Aims and Scope
Complex interdisciplinary interactions emerge as an important melting pot for the development of new integrative approaches addressing modern civilization health challenges. The COVID-19 crisis highlights the importance to understand how infections can trespass body barriers. The PNI interactions that control inflammation at these barriers are presently poorly understood. The European Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) Autumn School Series aims at exploring innovative ideas and research avenues addressing this knowledge gap in a multidisciplinary field that includes neuroscience, immunology, and mental health/stress research from basic to clinical science. The series combines the expertise of the German-Endocrine-Brain-Immune-Network (GEBIN) and the recently established European PNI Network (EPN) with specialists in lung and skin research to establish a training event for a new generation of young motivated researchers. It is planned as a series to cover two major organ systems responsible for interactions between the individual and the environment and the therapeutic options arising from the understanding of these two areas of research. The scope is to promote novel research on health challenges of substantial relevance. In addition, we consider it highly promising to complement the series with the study of lifestyle effects that combat civilization threats. This series of Autumn Schools would foster interactions between leaders and trainees in traditionally separated research fields within the framework of PNI. Trainees will be taught by preeminent PNI/pulmonary pathophysiology/skin/life style researchers mainly recruited from experts within Europe to foster further interactions. We aim at creating an attractive atmosphere to increase the interest of a new generation of scientists who will be able to contribute to the development of an urgently needed integrative multidisciplinary medicine.