IUTAM Symposium on Cellular, Molecular and Tissue Mechanics; held Woods Hole, MA, June 18 & 21, 2008

该IUTAM细胞，分子和组织力学研讨会将汇集对生物系统感兴趣的机械师，生物学家和生物学家，以解决生物学在分子，细胞和组织尺度上的机械基础。它将于2008年6月18日至21日在马萨诸塞州伍兹霍尔的美国国家科学院琼森会议中心举行。预计将有60至80名来自美国和国外的与会者。研讨会对科学的好处是：（a）它将提供一个前所未有的机会，将生物力学的研究从传统的生物力学组织扩展到细胞和分子水平。(b)由于生物物理学家和生物学家在研究分子和细胞时广泛应用弹性和结构力学的思想，因此有充分的理由将力学和生物学的社区聚集在一起，并促进它们之间更大的相互作用。在美国召开研讨会将促进美国学术机构在这一新兴学科中继续发挥领导作用。破译生物学的机械基础有望在未来从质量上改变对疾病的理解和治疗，从而为医疗保健带来重大利益。美国国家科学基金会对研讨会的支持表明了对跨学科、前沿科学的高度重视，这些科学有可能改善长寿人口的健康。研讨会将包括一个专为研究生/本科生和博士后研究人员举办的海报会议。因此，它将有助于培养这一新兴学科的下一代科学家。研讨会将促进国际思想交流，因为大约一半的与会者将来自美国以外的国家。它将在小组讨论中达到高潮，目的是确定未来5至10年在细胞，分子和组织力学中至关重要的问题。

This IUTAM Symposium on Cellular, Molecular and Tissue Mechanics will bring together mechanicians having an interest in biological systems, with biophysicists and biologists in order to address the mechanical basis of Biology at the molecular, cellular and tissue scales. It will be held between June 18 and 21, 2008 at the US National Academy of Sciences' Jonsson Conference Center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Between 60 and 80 attendees from the US and abroad are expected.The benefits to Science from the Symposium are: (a) It will provide an unprecedented opportunity to extend the study of Mechanics in Biology to the cellular and molecular levels, from the more traditional biomechanical focus on tissues. (b) Since biophysicists and biologists apply ideas of Elasticity and Structural Mechanics quite widely in studying molecules and cells, there is a strong reason to bring together the communities of Mechanics and Biology and catalyze greater interaction between them. The convening of the Symposium in the US will promote the continued leadership role of US academic institutions in this emerging discipline. Deciphering the mechanical basis of Biology is expected to qualitatively transform the understanding and treatment of disease in the future, thereby delivering significant benefits to Health Care. Support of the Symposium by the NSF is indicative of the premium importance placed on interdisciplinary, leading edge science that has the potential to improve the health of a longer living population. The Symposium will include a poster session exclusively for graduate/undergraduate students and post-doctoral researchers. It will thus help train the next generation of scientists in this emerging discipline. The Symposium will foster an international exchange of ideas, since roughly half the participants will come from countries besides the US. It will culminate in a panel discussion with the objective of identifying issues of critical importance in cellular, molecular and tissue mechanics for the next 5 to 10 years.