The “Annual Symposium on Structural Immunology 2009” was held at the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, on 28th June, 2009.

Participants	Professor Yang Liu’s talk	Discussion during the symposium

 Although immunologists and structural biologists work on a wide range of research areas under the 973 project - “Structural and functional research on important proteins related to infection and immunity” – sponsored by MOST, the theme for the 2009 symposium was “Structure-function analysis and molecular mechanism of cellular immune responses to infection”. Professor Zhi-Jie Liu, who leads the project remarked – “Structural immunology holds tremendous potential in unraveling the molecular mechanisms of recognition and immune response. We need to enhance the communication and partnership between immunologists and structural biologists in order to understand the progression of disease and be able to therapeutically modulate the host response to treat the disease”. Members participating in the project - Academicians Zihe Rao and Dacheng Wang, Professors Yingfang Liu and Cai Zhang - are actively involved in investigating mechanisms ranging from recognition, entry to effecter molecules. Professors Genhong Cheng, Yangxin Fu, Hao Wu, Lishan Su, Lieping Chen, Yang Liu and Yongjun Liu from the oversea team of Infection and Immunity Center, represented overseas participants.

Director Tao Xu responding to a query	Lunch	PI’s Strategic conference

Over 100 people attended the symposium, which was co-organized by Professor Zhi-Jie Liu and Professor Genhong Cheng. The opening keynote talk “The Structure of TRAF complexes” was delivered by Professor Hao Wu from Cornell University. Professors Genhong Cheng, Lishan Su, Lieping Chen, Yangxin Fu, Yongjun Liu and Yang Liu presented their current research efforts, while IBP’s doctoral students - Wei Peng (Academician Zihe Rao’s Group), Heng Ru (Professor Zhi-Jie Liu’s Group) and Peng Zhang (Professor Yingfang Liu’s Group) - discussed their progress and challenges encountered in their approach to tackle a wide range of immunologic problems.

The participants were very enthusiastic and often asked probing questions. While discussing the project’s progress and future direction during lunch, the Director General of IBP, Professor Tao Xu, congratulated the participants on their achievements and said he was impressed by the quality of the research and was confident that the collaborative project would open up new avenues to combat infectious diseases. After the symposium, a strategic meeting for the PIs, moderated by Professor Zhi-Jie Liu was held; where participants were asked to comment and suggest ways to further strengthen the collaborations. A proposal for the Second Annual Symposium on Structural Immunology to be held in the summer of 2010 was supported by all.