General Information:

Location and venue: School of Medicine, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile
Date: October 16- 20, 2023
Chair: Caroll Beltran
Local organizers: Marcela Hermoso, Carolina Ribeiro, Fabien Magne, Glauben Landkron, Marjorie De la Fuente and Mauricio Farfán.
International Co-organizers: Guillermo Docena, Clive Gray, Dieter Kaberlitz, Michelle Letarte, Eduardo Villablanca, Bon Holtac, Immunopaedia.

Summary of the Course:

This immersed 5-day advanced course on Mucosal Immunology was held at the University of Chile and it was organized in collaboration with the Education Committee of IUIS and Immunopaedia. Immunopaedia Ambassadors (4) and Chilean volunteers (8) were also involved in the preparation of the Immunopaedia online pre-course and as reviewers for the poster sessions. The campus provided a comfortable auditorium with capacity for 90 people considering students and faculties, a hall for poster displaying and four additional rooms for individual group activities. Two coffee breaks and lunch were served daily, a reception cocktail and two dinners were included for all attendees.
The course included talks (21), a Gender Equity activity, 2 poster sessions, 3 grant writing activities, including the presentation of the grant applications. Students presented their posters in two poster sessions and worked in groups led by Dr Clive Gray. On the last day, all groups presented their grant proposal and received questions and comments from the reviewers.
Awards, consisting of a certificate and free registration for the ALACI meeting 2024 that will be held in Buenos Aires, were provided by ALACI for the poster presentations (2) and the writing activity (1 group). In addition, students received an attendance certificate, speakers, organizers and mentors also received a certificate. After the course, Immunopaedia surveyed the students and we received very positive responses. Moreover, we had some suggestions that will be considered for future activities.
All students were provided 6 weeks in advance with online access to the web learning tool platform of Immunopaedia with general and specific background information included in Immunology core and specific modules of Immunopaedia. We created 7 specific modules for the course: GutMucosal Immunity, The Microbiome, Gut Inflammation, Viral Infections and Mucosal Immunity, Colorectal Cancer, Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Equity, Diversity, Inclusion in Academia. All activities were spread through social media as #ICIMI2023, #Immunopaedia, #iuis_online, #Alaci_org, #asochin_oficial.

Overall, it has been an outstanding advanced and immersed course on Mucosal Immunology for the Latin American region, gathering renowned speakers in the field, with an active interaction between speakers and students that was highly profitable for all participants. The course was entirely successful, and the aims were met.

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