Two years ago, biomedical Trevor Marshall attended the 2004 biennial International Congress on Autoimmunity in Budapest, where he presented the groundbreaking paper “Sarcoidosis succumbs to antibiotics - implications for autoimmune disease”

The conference will take place in Porto, Portugal.

This coming year he’ll be at the association’s next conference. But this time Marshall, who is also Adjunct Professor in the School of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology at Murdoch University, will be running an entire session on “The Vitamin D Receptor, Vitamin D, and Immune Disease.”

“I will be chairing the session and making a presentation,” says Marshall. “Dr Greg Blaney will also be making a presentation. We will be putting an effort into getting as many of our colleagues as possible to submit papers for this scientific session.”

There will be over 2,000 delegates at the 6th International Congress on Autoimmunity, which is run by the Kenes International Global Congress Organizers and Association. In fact, the organizing committee for the conference has delegates from over 25 countries.

Furthermore, the conference will be covered by the following biomedical journals:

- Autoimmunity Reviews
- The Journal of Autoimmunity
- Autoimmunity
- Annals of the New York Academy of Science

The International Congress of Autoimmunity has become established as one of the major meetings in the field of immunology. According to congress organizer Yehuda Shoenfeld, ”The lectures and discussions during the 6th International Congress will cover every aspect of basic research attempting to clarify etiology or pathogenesis, and will also bring forth the latest innovations in biological and other modes of treatment.”

Biomedical researcher Trevor Marshall

Representatives of the American Autoimmune Related Disease Association, who still clings to the “standard” view of autoimmune disease will also be attending the conference. Marshall’s session will be an excellent opportunity for this and other organizations to better understand the new bacterial pathogenesis for inflammatory disease that has been largely elucidated by Marshall. “This is a wonderful opportunity for us, and it comes at exactly the right time, says Marshall. “The opportunity to have the entire autoimmunity community to buttonhole is beyond calculus… A ‘coming of age’, as it were….”

“It is our sincere hope that the assembly of thousands of physicians and researchers interested in autoimmunity in Portugal will create new collaborations and pave the road for new and bold breakthroughs in research - serving the purpose of assuring better care of autoimmune diseases, or even finding the ultimate cure,” state the conference organizers.

Those researchers who attend the presentations by Marshall and Blaney, and who truly take the time to understand the molecular and clinical data presented during their talks, will indeed realize that when it comes to the “ultimate cure” we are already there.

As the conference grows closer, updates will be posted under this link.

It should also be noted that Autoimmunity Research Foundation will be one of the organizations sponsoring the conference and thus will be raising money to that end up and until next June. To donate to the cause go here.