Therapeutic potential of targeting inflammation

On 7–8 September 2012, at Bolton Landing, New York, the International Association of Inflammation Societies (IAIS) hosted a Translational Inflammation Summit which gathered a group of invited specialists from both academic institutions and the pharmaceutical industry for 2 days of intense presentations and discussions. The goals of the Summit were: (1) to provide participants with the opportunity to present cutting-edge research in inflammatory processes and disorders and discuss means with which to translate these results into therapeutic benefit; and (2) to foster a cross-fertilization of ideas between scientists with different areas of specialty and interest in inflammation research. The program included a combination of academic and industrial research talks (25 in total), with a focus on potential translational outcomes; there was also focus on unmet medical need in inflammatory/auto-immune disorders and on the future of inflammation research. The list of 38 participants, with 17 from industry, can be seen in Supplementary Table 1. There were four sessions entitled ‘‘Inflammation and Pathology’’ and three called ‘‘Mechanisms in Inflammation’’. The consensus from the participants was that the meeting was valuable, allowing broad thinking and discussion. The participation of both academic and industrial researchers provided a refreshing perspective for the Summit and allowed its goals to be addressed more easily. It was felt that the opportunity for cross-fertilization of ideas was valuable since both the broad scope and also the gathering of specialists from different ‘‘organ systems’’ were rare features, thereby providing an overview of approaches across disease organ types; the opportunity for the interaction between academic and industrial participants was a unique feature. In addition, the focus on translational research was considered to be of high interest and timely.