Introduction

INTRODUCTION

In 1994, I was approached by my colleague and friend Professor Renato Cordeiro to consider organizing an international symposium on the eosinophil in Brazil in 1996. The purpose of the meeting was to address the enigma of contrasting roles of the eosinophil in allergic inflammation and asthma on the one hand and parasitic infections on the other. This was very appealing, since this question has been one which I have been interested in for many years. The symposium took place between June 3-6, 1996, in beautiful Rio de Janeiro with approximately 300 participants from most continents of the world. I was delighted with the support and enthusiasm of my colleagues who participated in this symposium. The generosity and hospitality extended to us by our Brazilian colleagues and the hard work of the staff of Fiocruz, particularly those associated with Dr Cordeiro's group who contributed tremendously to the friendly nature of this gathering are deeply appreciated. The scientific content of the meeting, presented by many leaders in the field of eosinophil research made this symposium unique and very informative. The discussions around each presentation and the final concluding session helped to further our understanding of the complex nature of the eosinophil as one of the most prominent cell in IgE-mediated inflammatory reactions. The as yet unproven premise that the eosinophil has been retained in evolution as part of IgE-dependent immune mechanisms because it plays a role in adaptive immunity against worms remains very attractive. Ironically, parallel evidence in asthmatic inflammation for an effector role for eosinophils remains circumstantial. As research in this area continues, we may be in a better position to determine more precisely the role of this cell in health and disease.

Heartfelt thanks are due to my friend and co-chairperson of the symposium Renato Cordeiro for his unbounded energy, remarkable organizational acumen, and generosity. We are both grateful to all the speakers at this conference for their participation and their review chapters published in this volume. None of this would have been possible without the generous financial and moral support of many funding and academic institutions. In particular, the Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), Ministry of Health, the British Council and a number of other industrial and academic institutions in Brazil. We wish also to express our gratitude for sponsorship by a number of pharmaceutical firms including Astra Pharma, Inc., Canada, Glaxo-Wellcome, UK and Schering Plough, USA and the support of the Pulmonary Research Group, University of Alberta, Canada.

Redwan Moqbel, PhD, FRCPath

Co-organizer and Co-chair

International Symposium on the Eosinophil in Allergic

Inflammation and Parasitic and Infectious Diseases

Rio de Janeiro, 1996

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  23 Nov 2000
• Date of issue
  Dec 1997