The National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS) is now accepting applications for its *"Modeling Johne's Disease Investigative Workshop" *to be held July 6-8, 2011, at NIMBioS.
*Objectives: *Johne's disease (JD) has been found in 68 percent of dairy herds and causes an estimated annual loss of $220 million to the US dairy industry. JD causes reduction of milk production, weight loss, and premature culling of clinically affected animals. Despite long and intensive national-level efforts for JD control, we are still far from preventing the significant economic impact of this formidable disease. Since the early 1990s, mathematical modeling approaches have been applied for better understanding of JD epidemiology and for estimation of the cost-benefit of alternative JD control strategies. However, there has not previously been an opportunity to gather a multidisciplinary group of scientists to help facilitate mathematical modeling studies in JD. Further, there has been no mathematical modeling approach for studying the immunology of JD. This workshop will invite scientists in mathematics, biostatistics, epidemiology, veterinary medicine, immunology, molecular biology and genetics to facilitate multi-disciplinary collaborations for better understanding of the epidemiology and immunology of JD. The workshop's goal is to contribute to the control and ultimate eradication of the cause of Johne's disease through application of mathematical modeling approaches for better understanding of JD epidemiology, pathogenesis and immune responses. *Location: *NIMBioS at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville *Co-Organizers: *Shigetoshi Eda (Center for Wildlife Health, Univ. of Tennessee Knoxville); Ynte H. Schukken (Dept. Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, Cornell Univ.); Ian A. Gardner (Dept. Medicine and Epidemiology, Univ. of California Davis); John P. Bannantine (Agricultural Research Service, US Department of Agriculture) * *For more information about the workshop and a link to the online application form, go to http://www.nimbios.org/workshops/WS_JohnesDisease If needed, applicants may request travel and lodging support. Participation is limited, and those selected to attend will be notified within two weeks of the application deadline. *Application deadline: April 4, 2011* The National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS) brings together researchers from around the world to collaborate across disciplinary boundaries to investigate solutions to basic and applied problems in the life sciences. NIMBioS is sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture with additional support from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. ******************************** Catherine Crawley, Ph.D. Communications Coordinator National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS) University of Tennessee 1534 White Avenue Knoxville, TN 37996-1527 Phone: (865) 974-9350 Fax: (865) 974-9461 Email: [email protected] http://www.nimbios.org http://twitter.com/nimbios /To receive email notifications of blog updates, click here. <http://www.nimbios.org/wordpress/subscribe2updates/> To sign up to receive our bi-monthly newsletter, click here. <http://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/manage/optin/ea?v=001RgvbKVLa7a4Psoj8H7c43A%3D%3D>/
