CSV2018: The 2nd Symposium of the Canadian Society for Virology

Canadian virologists have advanced fundamental understanding of many viruses, which led to the development of new strategies for monitoring, preventing and treating viral diseases (e.g. Ebola virus vaccine, anti-HIV drugs and oncolytic viruses). For Canada to meet the challenge of emerging and chronic viral infections, and realize its potential to lead this research area, the virology community must come together to exchange ideas and discover new opportunities for collaboration. Founded in 2016, Canadian Society for Virology (CSV) creates opportunities to bring this community together and foster exchanges, with the goal of promoting collaboration and creating support structures that will accelerate the translation of research findings to positive health outcomes for Canadians. CSV2018, the 2nd Symposium of the Canadian Society for Virology, will be held on June 13-15th, 2018 at Dalhousie University (see attached program). Based on the current membership, and assiduous event planning and promotion, we expect that 150 virologists from across Canada will attend. While the majority of symposium costs will be covered by registration fees and support from sponsors (see attached budget and support letters), we are requesting $10,000 from CIHR to defray the costs of invited keynote speakers (S. Moineau, D. Kelvin), invited podcasters/science communicators (V. Racaniello, A. Dove), and symposium promotion and on-site logistics. Most importantly, these funds would also allow us to offer travel awards to 12 graduate students and postdocs from across Canada.