Symposium on Mechanics of Development, Farmington, Pennsylvania, June 21, 2011

2011年6月21日，在宾夕法尼亚州法明顿举行的2011年夏季生物工程会议之前，TaberA将举行为期一天的发展机制研讨会。本次研讨会将是由美国国家生物力学委员会（USNCB）主办的第三届美国国家生物力学前沿研讨会。会议将汇集发育生物学家和生物工程师/物理学家，讨论这一新领域的最新进展，以及新的合作如何解决胚胎发育中的具体问题。一百多年来，发育生物学家一直对形态发生和形成胚胎和器官的基本物理力量感兴趣，但随着分子遗传技术的出现，大多数兴趣转向了绘制调节发育的信号通路。这项研究非常富有成效，为人类疾病和出生缺陷的原因提供了见解。然而，与此同时，发育的物理方面受到的关注相对较少，导致对分子机制与实际构建胚胎的物理过程之间的联系缺乏根本的理解。最近，一些发育生物学家已经开始认识到这一差距，现在在他们的研究中考虑胚胎发生的物理方面。为了解决这些问题，生物学家、工程师、物理学家和数学家组成了各种各样的特别合作和跨学科小组。然而，这些合作的数量仍然很少。本次会议的主要目标是：(1)促进工程师和发育生物学家之间的合作；(2)激发工程师对胚胎发育的兴趣；(3)明确发育生物学中未来值得关注的问题，特别是那些工程界相对未知或不被重视的问题。在这次会议上，演讲者将讨论他们如何解决胚胎发育中的具体问题，以及他们认为未来研究最重要的领域。这次研讨会显然将是第一次将发育生物学和生物力学工程领域的顶尖研究人员聚集在一起讨论发育的物理机制的全国性会议，主要关注形态发生。本次研讨会的重点是生物力学与发展之间的界面，其地点在大型国家生物工程会议之前，为扩大该领域的广度和鼓励新的研究者提供了一个独特的机会。智力优势：本次会议将塑造发育力学、合成生物学和组织工程等新兴领域。这些明显不同的领域有许多共同的问题和目标，但很少有机会相互作用。本次会议将汇集来自这三个领域的杰出研究人员和年轻研究人员，寻求新的合作和研究领域。更广泛的影响：前沿会议的一个值得注意的特点是他们强调年轻的研究者。一般来说，出席会议的人中有一半以上是博士生、博士后研究员和年轻教师。这笔资金将为尽可能多的年轻研究者提供支持。午餐时间的研讨会和小组讨论将为演讲者和研讨会参与者提供充足的一对一互动机会。

1106056, TaberA one-day symposium on the Mechanics of Development will be held on June 21, 2011, immediately prior to the 2011 Summer Bioengineering Conference in Farmington, Pennsylvania. This symposium will be the Third US National Symposium on Frontiers in Biomechanics, which is sponsored by the US National Committee on Biomechanics (USNCB). The meeting will bring together developmental biologists and bioengineers/physicists to discuss recent advances in this new field and how new collaborations can attack specific problems in embryonic development.Developmental biologists have been interested in morphogenesis and the fundamental physical forces that shape embryos and organs for well over a hundred years, but with the advent of molecular genetic techniques most interest turned toward mapping the signaling pathways that regulate development. This research has been extraordinarily fruitful, providing insights into the causes of human disease and birth defects. In the meantime, however, the physical aspects of development have received relatively little attention, leading to a fundamental lack of understanding of the connection between molecular mechanisms and the physical processes that actually construct the embryo. Recently, some developmental biologists have begun to recognize this gap and now consider the physical aspects of embryogenesis in their research. To address these questions a diverse range of ad-hoc collaborations and interdisciplinary groups of biologists, engineers, physicists, and mathematicians have been formed. However, these collaborations remain few in number.The main objectives of this meeting are (1) to foster collaborations between engineers and developmental biologists; (2) to stimulate interest among engineers in embryonic development; and (3) to define problems in developmental biology that deserve more attention in the future, especially those problems that are relatively unknown or underappreciated by the engineering community. At this meeting, speakers will discuss how they attack specific problems in embryonic development, as well as what they feel are the most important areas for future study. This symposium apparently will be the first national meeting to bring together leading researchers in developmental biology and biomechanical engineering to discuss the physical mechanisms of development, focusing primarily on morphogenesis. The focus of this Symposium on the interface between biomechanics and development and its venue prior to a large national bioengineering meeting provides a unique opportunity to expand the breadth of the field and encourage new investigators.Intellectual Merit: This meeting will shape the emerging fields of developmental mechanics, synthetic biology, and tissue engineering. These apparently diverse fields share many common questions and goals but have little opportunity to interact. This meeting proposes to bring together both prominent researchers and young investigators from these three fields seeking new areas of collaboration and research. Broader Impact: A noteworthy feature of Frontiers meetings is their emphasis on young investigators. Typically more than half of those in attendance are Ph.D. students, postdoctoral fellows, and young faculty. Funds from this grant will provide support to as many young investigators as possible. A lunch-time workshop and panel discussion will provide ample opportunity for one-on-one interactions between speakers and symposium participants.