2023 Keynote Address

​

Tom Chiller, Chief, Mycotic Diseases Division, Centers for Disease Control, USA. 

Eliminating Deaths from Cryptococcal Meningitis: Dream vs Reality

​

2023 Schedule (as of January 9, 2023)

​

Monday, January 9, 2023 – Where we’ve been and where we’re going

 

Note: The Genetics and Genomics Workshop was rescheduled to 1-2pm on Tuesday and Wednesday.

​

Lunch, Poolside Tent noon – 1pm

​

Clinical Management of Cryptococcal Meningitis Workshop, Victoria Ballroom 1pm – 4pm

Coordinators – Eltas Dziwani, Jane Gakuru, Tshepo Leeme, Kyla Comins and David Lawrence

• Epidemiology and the latest evidence

• Reconstitution and safe administration of the AMBITION-cm regimen

• Toxicity Management

• Prescribing Exercise

• Complex Case Discussions

​

​

Welcome Address, Victoria Ballroom 4:30 – 5pm

David Meya

Keynote Address, Victoria Ballroom 5 – 6pm

Introduction: David Boulware

Tom Chiller, Chief, Mycotic Diseases Division, Centers for Disease Control, USA

“Eliminating Deaths from Cryptococcal Meningitis: Dream vs Reality”

 

Welcome Reception, MCLR Poolside 6:30 – 8pm (beverages and appetizers served)

​

​

Tuesday, January 10, 2022

​

Announcements, Victoria Ballroom 8 – 8:30

​

Concurrent Sessions 8:30am – noon

Session 1A –  Species and Phenotypes, Basic Science Track, Majestic Hall

Moderator: Liliane Mukaremera

• Joseph Heitman - Genomic insights on the Cryptococcus species complex (8:30 – 8:50)

• Poppy Sephton-Clark (Cuomo Lab) - Leveraging population diversity to identify genomic signatures of clinical isolates (9 – 9:20)

• Bettina Fries - Replicative aging in Cryptococcus neoformans (9:30 – 9:50)

• Break (10:00 – 10:30)

• Blake Billmyre - High-throughput genetics, essential gene discovery, and antifungal resistance in Cryptococcus neoformans (10:30 – 10:50)

• Carolina Firacative - Low genetic diversity among Cryptococcus neoformans isolates recovered from HIV positive patients from Lima, Peru with recurrent and multiple infections (11 – 11:20)

• Jianping Xu - Analyses of the global multilocus genotypes of the human pathogenic yeast Cryptococcus neoformans species complex (11:30 – 11:50)

​

Session 1B – CrAg Screening, Clinical Science Track, Victoria Ballroom

Moderator: Radha Rajasingham

• Radha Rajasingham - Cryptococcal antigen screening: new preemptive treatment strategies (8:30 – 8:45)

• Panel and Audience Discussion on Optimizing Preemptive Therapy: Role of enhanced therapy, customized care, and LPs (8:45 – 10)

Moderators: Tom Harrison and David Boulware

Panel Members: 

▪    Síle Molloy – EFFECT Trial

▪    Radha Rajasingham – ACACIA Trial 

▪    Elizabeth Nalintya – ENCORE Trial

▪    Tshiama Miriam Mwamba – NICD, South Africa

• Break (10 – 10:30)

• Nelesh Govender - Effectiveness of a national reflex laboratory cryptococcal antigen screening programme for people with advanced HIV disease in South Africa: a nationwide sampled cohort study (10:30 – 10:45)

• Panel and Audience Discussion of Programmatic and Implementation Issues on CrAg Screening (10:45 – noon)

Moderators: Tom Chiller and David Meya

Panel Members:

▪    Nelesh Govender – South Africa

▪    Elizabeth Nalintya – Uganda

▪    Master Chisale – Malawi

▪    Boniface Ocora – Lira, Uganda

▪    Tafese Beyene Tufa – Ethiopia

​

Lunch, Stables Restaurant noon – 2pm

Optional Networking Session 1 –  2pm (CrAg Screening Working Group; Genetics/Genomics Workshop)

​

Plenary Session 2 – Treatment Strategies, Victoria Ballroom, 2pm – 5pm

Moderator: Kirsten Nielsen

• Michael Boucher - Functional genomic screens in Cryptococcus neoformans uncover a novel virulence determinant required for proliferation in the mammalian host (2 – 2:20)

• Jessica Brown - Exploiting synergistic and antagonistic interactions with antifungal drugs to treat systemic infections (2:30 – 2:50)

• Mucunguzi Atukunda - Oral encochleated Amphotericin EnACT Phase 2 Trial (3 – 3:20)

• Break (3:30 – 4)

• Daniel Assis Santos - Cryptococcus-host interactions during coinfections (4:00 – 4:20)

• Methee Chayakulkeeree - Effectiveness of 1-week versus 2-week induction therapy: A Multicenter Randomized Trial in Thailand (4:20 – 4:40)

• Julia Palmucci - A ketogenic diet enhances fluconazole efficacy in models of systemic fungal infection (4:40 – 5)

 

Poster Flash Talks, Victoria Ballroom 5 – 6pm

Poster Session, Exhibition Space 6 – 7:15pm

Dinner, on the Mango Green 7:15 – 8:30pm

​

​

Wednesday, January 11, 2023

​

Concurrent Sessions 8:30am – noon

Session 3A – Cell Biology and Development, Basic Science Track, Victoria Ballroom

Moderator: Bettina Fries

• Kaustuv Sanyal - Mechanism of chromosome segregation in Cryptococcus neoformans (8:30 – 8:50)

• Nalu Teixera de Aguiar Peres - Cryptococcus neoformans transcriptional signatures of cellular remodeling in vivo and in vitro (9 – 9:20)

• Lukasz Kozubowski - Defining the role of septin proteins in stress response and virulence in C. neoformans (9:30 – 9:50)

• Break (10-10:30)

• Muse Davis - Roles for microglia and neurovascular cells in cryptococcal brain dissemination (10:30 – 10:50)

• Rajendra Upadhya - Breaking the shield: Chitosan deficiency in Cryptococcus alters cell wall architecture, affecting host immune response and fungal virulence (11 – 11:20)

• Kevin Hardwick - Mitotic regulation and aneuploidy in Cryptococcus: spindle assembly checkpoint mutants and Titan (11:30 – 11:50)

 

Session 3B – Disease Manifestations, Clinical Science Track, Majestic Hall

Moderator: Lilian Tugume

• Caleb Skipper - CMV and Cryptococcosis (8:30 – 8:50)

• Minna Ding - Characterization of CD4 T-cell dysfunction and control of latent C. neoformans infection (9 – 9:20)

• Jessica Hargarten - Characterization of MTOR signaling pathway variants in previously healthy patients with non-HIV cryptococcal meningoencephalitis. (9:30 – 9:50)

• Break (10 – 10:30)

• Peter Williamson - Riding the wild west of inflammatory syndromes: Intrathecal immunologic markers of disease (10:30 – 10:50)

• Panel and Audience Discussion on HIV Negative Cryptococcal Meningitis (11 – noon)

Moderators: Olivier Lortholary

Panel Members:

▪    John Perfect (USA)

▪    Olivier Paccoud (France)

​

Lunch, Stables Restaurant noon – 2pm

Optional Networking Session 1 – 2pm (HIV-negative working group; Genetics/Genomics Workshop)

 

Plenary Session 4: Understanding and Treating Disease, Victoria Ballroom, 2pm – 5pm  

Moderator: Caleb Skipper 

• Michal Olszewski - Finding, the right balance! Immunity and inflammation in the brain (2 – 2:20)

• Asiya Gusa - Exploring recurrent cryptococcal meningitis: Do transposable elements contribute to disease persistence? (2:30 – 2:50)

• Nathan Bahr - Recurrence of symptoms following cryptococcal meningitis – characterizing a diagnostic conundrum (3 – 3:20)

• Break (3:30 – 4)

• Liesbeth Vanherp - Non-invasive imaging as a tool for in vivo comparison of disease manifestation and virulence in murine models infected with clinical C. neoformans isolates (4 – 4:15)

• Gustavo José Cota de Freitas - Antimalarials combined with amphotericin B are new options to treat cryptococcosis (4:20 – 4:35)

• Elizabeth Okafor - Cytotoxic Cells in the CNS of Subjects with Cryptococcal Meningitis and Advanced HIV (4:40 – 4:55)

​

Poster Flash Talks, Victoria Ballroom 5 – 6pm

Poster Session, Exhibition Space 6 – 7:15pm

Dinner, on the Mango Green 7:15 – 8:30pm

​​​

​

Thursday, January 12, 2023

​

Plenary Session 5: Drug Development and Clinical Trials, Victoria Ballroom, 8am – noon

Moderator: David Meya

• Vote for 2026 Venue (8 – 8:30am)

• John Perfect - Crypto guidelines, Crypto guidelines everywhere nor any grade to link (8:30 – 8:50)

• Tadesse Mekonen - DNDi: Sustained Release Formulations of 5FC and 5FU (9 – 9:20)

• Hyun ah Yoon - Antibody Immunity in Cryptococcus (9:30 – 9:50)

• Break (10 – 10:30)

• David Lawrence / Joe Jarvis - Evidence supporting widespread implementation of the AMBITION-CM regimen and Beyond (10:30 – 11)

• Katharine Stott - Population Pharmacokinetics from the AMBITION-CM Trial (11:10 – 11:25)

• Magali Ayala - Molecular mechanisms of synergistic interactions between antifungals and commonly prescribed small molecules for the treatment of cryptococcosis (11:30 – 11:45)

 

Lunch, Stables Restaurant noon – 2pm

Optional Networking Session 1 – 2pm (Career Development)

 

Concurrent Sessions 2pm – 5pm

Session 6A – Genetics and Reproduction, Basic Science Track, Majestic Hall

Moderator: Blake Billmyre

• Megan McKeon (Hull Lab) - Maturation and Germination of Cryptococcus Spores (2 –2:20)

• Hiten Madhani - Molecular mechanisms of cryptococcal pathogenesis (2:30 – 2:50)

• Volker Rickerts - Core Genome MLST for molecular typing of C. neoformans var. neoformans isolated in Germany (3 – 3:20)

• Break (3:30 – 4)

• Alicia Piffer - Extracellular vesicle production regulates fluconazole resistance in Cryptococcus neoformans (4 – 4:20)

• Diana Kabbale Kisakye - Establishing the landscape of structural variations in Cryptococcus neoformans isolates from Ugandan cryptococcal meningitis patients using long read sequencing (4:30 – 4:50)

 

Session 6B – Ancillary Treatment Strategies, Clinical Science Track, Victoria Ballroom

Moderator: Abdu Musubire

• Laura Nsangi - Risk Factors for Neurocognitive Impairment (2 – 2:20)

• Mahsa Abassi - Improving Outcomes in Altered Mental Status (2:30 – 2:50)

• Audience Discussion on Altered Mental Status (3 – 3:30)

Moderator: Mahsa Abassi

Goal: Determine Clinical Best Practices and Research Agendas

• Break (3:30 – 4)

• Enock Kagimu - Overview of Data on Therapeutic LPs (4 – 4:15)

• Panel Discussion: Scheduled Therapeutic LPs (4:15 – 5pm)

Moderator: Mahsa Abassi

Panel Members:

▪    David Meya (Uganda)

▪    Methee Chayakulkeeree (Thailand)

▪    David Lawrence (UK)

 

Closing Reception, Olympic Poolside 6:30 – 10pm

​

​

Friday, January 13, 2023

​

Concurrent Sessions 9:00am – noon

Session 7A – Antifungal Drugs and Virulence Mechanisms, Basic Science Track, Victoria Ballroom

Moderator: Asiya Gusa

• Evelyne Deplazes (Carter Lab) - Characterising the mechanism of Lactofungin: a novel antifungal synergent of amphotericin B (9 – 9:20)

• Liliane Mukaremera - Cryptococcus cell wall modifications during antifungal drug treatment (9:30 – 9:50)

• Break (10 – 10:30)

• Samantha Avina (Xue Lab) - Ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis in Cryptococcus pathogenesis and vaccine development (10:30 – 10:50)

• Luis R. Martinez - Unraveling Cryptococcus neoformans mechanisms of brain invasion and colonization (11 – 11:20)

• Katrina Jackson - Unraveling the genetic determinants of virulence in Cryptococcus neoformans (11:30 – 11:50)

 

Session 7B – Immunology and Pathogenesis, Clinical Science Track, Majestic Hall

Moderator: Michael Olszewski

• Andre Moraes Nicola - Melanin-independent roles of cryptococcal laccase in immune evasion (8:30 – 8:50)

• Simon Johnston - The biology of the macrophage Cryptococcus interface: From smooth to rough (9 – 9:20)

• Carolina Coelho - Innate immune cell metabolism during C. neoformans infection (9:30 – 9:50)

• Break (10 – 10:30)

• Lena Heung - Monocytes and the host response to Cryptococcus (10:30 – 10:50)

• Alexandre Alanio - Interplay between macrophages and C. neoformans VBNC cells (11 – 11:20)

• Uju Onyishi (May Lab) - Reciprocal regulation of TLR4, TLR3 and Scavenger Receptor A1 (SR-A1) regulates unopsonised phagocytosis of the fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans (11:30 – 11:50)

 

ICCC Adjournment noon

​

Lunch, Stables Restaurant noon – 2pm

Optional Networking Session 1 – 2pm (Scientific Committee Meeting)

​

Working groups may additionally continue to meet in the afternoon

​

Friday dinner will be held in Nyanja Restaurant in the main building, available from 6:30 – 10:30pm

​