The Biologic Basis of Psoriasis October 2-6, 2008 Salishan Spa & Golf Resort, Gleneden Beach, Oregon Program Chairs: Andrew Blauvelt, MD Oregon Health & Science University Anne M. Bowcock, PhD Washington University in St. Louis The 2008 Montagna Symposium on the Biology of Skin provided in-depth discussion of psoriasis: the latest research in pathogenesis, genetics and drug design, the new questions being framed from clinical experience, and the strategies for translating the science to more effective treatments. The meeting included sessions on the immunology of psoriasis, the genetics of psoriasis, mouse models of psoriasis, and discussions on how advances in these areas could translate into new therapies, and incorporated perspectives emerging from related fields. These included recent discoveries relating to T cell subpopulations, cytokines, genetic susceptibility factors, antigen identification, autoimmunity and innate immunity, cell surface proteins and extracellular matrix interactions and their relationship to keratinocyte proliferation, terminal differentiation and transit through the epidermis. Invited speakers included: Bruce Bebo, Jr., Ph.D., National Psoriasis Foundation Andrew Blauvelt, M.D., Oregon Health & Science University Anne M. Bowcock, Ph.D., Washington University in St. Louis Kristina Callis Duffin, M.D., University of Utah Rachael Clark, M.D., Ph.D., Brigham and Women’s Hospital / Harvard University Kevin Cooper, M.D., Case Western Reserve University Rene de Waal Malefyt, Ph.D., Schering-Plough Research Institute Michael Detmar, M.D., Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland John DiGiovanni, Ph.D., University of Texas James T. Elder, M.D., University of Michigan Joel Gelfand, M.D., University of Pennsylvania James Krueger, M.D.,Rockefeller University Frank Nestle, M.D., King’s College School of Medicine, London, UK Brian Nickoloff, M.D., Loyola University of Chicago Wenjun Ouyang, Ph.D., Genentech, Inc. Joost Schalkwijk, Ph.D., Radboud University Nijmegen, Sweden Julie Segre, Ph.D., NIH, National Human Genome Research Institute Eniko Sonkoly, M.D., Ph.D., Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden Richard Trembath, M.D., King’s College School of Medicine, London, UK Xiao-Jing Wang, M.D., Ph.D., Oregon Health & Science University Additional speakers chosen from abstracts: Ewout Baerveldt, M.D., Erasmus Medical Centre, The Netherlands Allen Bruce, M.D., Ph.D., University of Michigan Andrew Johnson, Ph.D., University of Michigan Cailin Joyce, B.S., Washington University in St. Louis Yuangang Liu, Ph.D., Oregon Health & Science University Cristina de Guzman Strong, Ph.D., Natl Human Genome Research Institute, NIH Shigetoshi Sano, M.D., Ph.D., Kochi University, Japan Hideaki Sugiyama, M.D., Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University