Americas School of Neuroimmunology (ASNI) Course in Toronto

Last week, I had the great opportunity to meet with neuroimmunology researchers from across North and South America at the 5th ASNI Course in Toronto. The conference mainly consisted of lectures on various topics within and related to neuroimmunology, including multiple sclerosis, brain/spinal cord injury, and neurovirology. It’s easy to become tunnel-visioned on one’s own project, so getting to take a step back and learn about other neuroimmunology topics was refreshing. Students also had the opportunity to present their projects in a poster format which allowed me to hear about some cool research! This meeting was an opportunity for me to communicate my own research and network with faculty and students from other institutions that I wouldn't get to meet otherwise.

I talked to several students and professors about my project characterizing B cells in the inflamed meninges and received lots of good feedback.

Being able to network with talented students from across the Americas was the best part of the meeting. I was able to talk to several students studying similar topics to me, and learned a great deal from them about neuroimmunology, science, and life in research. We even got some free time built into the conference schedule to enjoy Toronto, and I was able to see a Blue Jays game with a couple of the students I met!

The Jays actually won for once! (ed. note: we have learned that Cam is a big baseball fan)

Overall, I had a great time attending the ASNI meeting. I’m looking forward to attending other conferences where I can continue learning from other talented researchers and developing relationships with them.