GUEST COMMENTARY

Howard S. Fox

Published online: 27 February 2014# Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

Abstract The 20th conference of the Society onNeuroImmunePharmacology will be held March 26-29, 2014. It features thelatest in research examining the intersection of neuroscience,immunology and pharmacology, relevant for human health anddisease. Particular emphases are placed on HIVand other infec-tious diseases, and abused substances, including illicit drugs andalcohol.

Keywords HIV .Brain .Drugsofabuse .Alcohol . Infectiousdisease . Immunology . Neuroscience . Pharmacology

First, I would like to welcome you all to the twentieth confer-ence of the Society on NeuroImmune Pharmacology (SNIP),the first time we are meeting in the great city of New Orleans.It has been quite an exciting ride being a part of SNIP. SNIP’sfirst meeting was organized as a satellite to a College ofProblems of Drug Dependence society meeting in 1993 inToronto, examining the effects of drugs of abuse on theimmune system and the effect on important pathophysiolog-ical processes, with a focus on the growing HIV/AIDS pan-demic.Work on drugs of abuse, the immune system, and HIV/AIDS continue to be an integral part of work of members ofSNIP. However, the reason to organize SNIP was muchbroader, examining the intersection of neuroscience, immu-nology and pharmacology, and examining critical issues inbasic, translational and clinical research. These are exhibitedin the abstracts in this issue.

Our meetings through the years have shown the greatcontributions our members make to biomedical research. Wehave now entered a new world of biomedical research with

unprecedented knowledge and yet challenging means to as-similate this knowledge. While reductionist methods have ledto great advances, integration is now key. Importantly, this isone of the strengths of SNIP—we recognize the fact thateffects on one system can have important effects on another,and that fields are not independent, but rather interdependent,and these interactions within and between physiological sys-tems are crucial for normal function and instructive for dys-function and disease. We are also in a difficult era for sciencefinancially, with reduced funding from government sources inmany countries including the USA. Keeping abreast of thelatest and greatest science and technologies will enable re-searchers to stay competitive, and this meeting, and in pastmeetings, will feature such important work.

The growth of the society has been spectacular. SNIP wasofficially incorporated as a non-profit entity in 2000 to supportresearch in the field, enabling SNIP to set up a productiveadministrative structure to move the society’s agenda forward.One giant step was made in 2006 with the inauguration of theJournal of Neuroimmune Pharmacology (JNIP), the officialjournal of SNIP. Significant growth will continue, and I highlyencourage everyone to participate in the society and help usmove the society and field forward.

To do this I hope you all will join SNIP. Membershipprovides a significant discount for meeting registration, avail-ability of awards for trainee meeting travel and attendance,and a subscription to JNIP. Membership also gives opportu-nities to help the society. Member participation is key, andcommittee positions as well as leadership opportunitiesthrough elections of officials are abundant. Be sure to join usat the SNIP business meeting on Friday, March 28th.

Our program this year has some similarities to past years aswell as unique aspects in response to feedback frommembers.One historic strength of SNIP, our support for trainees andearly career investigators, continues with a large amount ofsupport given for travel awards, supported by an R13 grant

H. S. Fox (*)Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience,University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, USAe-mail: hfox@unmc.edu

J Neuroimmune Pharmacol (2014) 9:1–2DOI 10.1007/s11481-014-9537-1

The 20th Scientific Conference of the Society on NeuroImmunePharmacology

from National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Importantsessions in support of training and mentoring will occur daily.An The Early Career Investigator Poster Session will lead themeeting on Wednesday evening, March 26th. The Meet theMentor’s lunch will be the next day, Thursday March 27th,and Workshop on Mentoring to follow on Friday March 28th.The Early Career Investigator speaker symposium, withspeakers chosen out of the submitted trainee abstracts, willoccur on Saturday March 29th, with awards presented to thetrainees at the banquet Saturday evening.

Plenary lectures (Thursday – Matthew Rizzo, Friday –Barbara Mason and Richard Miller), and the Narayanlecture (Thursday – Brian Wigdahl) are special highlights.Seven symposia have been organized based on SNIPmember suggestions. On Thursday we will have excitingspeakers covering Exosomes and Neuroimmune Interactions(co-sponsored by National Institute on Mental Health) andPharmacology and Signaling in Drug Abuse (co-sponsored byNIDA). We will also have a second poster session Thursdayevening. Friday will bring us Inflammation: At the Core ofSubstance Abuse-Disease Spectrum Interaction (brought to usby our local hosts at the Louisiana State University HealthSciences Center), Drug Abuse, NeuroImmunology and HIV/AIDS: Perspectives from Addiction Neuropharmacologists;and Antiretroviral Therapy and the CNS. Saturday, in additionto the Early Career Investigator Symposium, we will havesessions on Neurogenesis and Repair, as well as NeuropathicPain and Neuroimmune Interactions in the Modulation ofPain.

Our banquet (Saturday evening) is always an excellent timeto talk and celebrate with old and new friends and colleagues,and George Koob, Director, NIAAA, will give us an excellenttalk on important issues.

Of course we want everyone to be able to explorethis wonderful city. The poster sessions on Wednesday

and Thursday end at 8 PM, that may even be early forsome of the New Orleans nightlife! In addition we haveleft late Friday afternoon, evening and night open for allto make their own plans.

These outstanding meetings don’t just happen. Let methank the entire Executive Committee of SNIP, Shilpa Buch,Anuja Ghorpade, Anil Kumar, and Sabita Roy, for all theirtireless work for the society and on the meeting, and the SNIPCouncil for their needed advice. Specifically for the meeting,Rick Noel and the SNIP Meetings Committee, along withPatricia Molina, her faculty and staff in New Orleans whohave all worked very hard together to make this a reality.Howard Gendelman, Editor in Chief of JNIP, the JNIP edito-rial board, and the JNIP publisher, Springer, are crucial in thesuccess of the society and the meeting, and we thank them forthe publication of these abstracts. Santosh Kumar and theSNIP Early Career Investigators committee, and Sulie Chang,PI of the R13 grant supporting this meeting and the travelawards, are key in enabling us to continue an important part ofour mission—training and mentoring to effectively usher inthe next generation of investigators. All other SNIP Commit-tees contribute heavily to the success of SNIP, and it is throughtheir work that SNIP meetings are a success. Finally, let methank all the members of SNIP, as everyone contributes, and itis through the members’ interests and science that drive usforward. It is great to see everyone at this wonderful accom-plishment, the 20th meeting of SNIP in New Orleans.

Acknowledgments The 2014 SNIP meeting is partially sponsored bythe R13 DA023184 conference award to Sulie L. Chang, Institute ofNeuroImmune Pharmacology at Seton Hall University. Acknowledge-ment of other financial support received for the meeting will be listed inthe program book.

Conflict of Interest The author declares no conflicts of interest. SNIPhas a contractual arrangement with Springer, the publisher of JNIP.

2 J Neuroimmune Pharmacol (2014) 9:1–2