GRC/GRS Venom Evolution, Function and Biomedical Applications: Bridging Gaps in Venom Research: From Ecology and Evolution to Socio-Economic Impacts

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The Gordon Research Conference (GRC) and Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) on Venom Evolution, Function and Biomedical Applications represent unique international forums to share cutting-edge research on the evolution, function, and applications of venom. Animal venoms are key evolutionary adaptations that have originated independently in many animal lineages to assist in defense, predation, and competition. Venoms are some of the most complex secretions known in nature and are made up of toxins and other bioactive compounds whose molecular structure and targets are often similar throughout the animal kingdom. These features make venoms excellent systems to answer fundamental questions in evolutionary biology, and these toxins are untapped resources of novel compounds with great potential for biotechnological applications including drug leads and pesticides. The Venom GRC and GRS will bring together senior and junior researchers from academia and industry to define key areas of venom research, establish collaborations to advance the field, and evaluate challenges and opportunities to achieve a greater impact in basic and applied science. This award will specifically enable early career researchers, including graduate students, postdocs, women and other underrepresented minorities in science, to attend both the 2022 Venom GRS (August 6-7, 2022) and GRC (August 7-12, 2022). This will provide an excellent platform for early career researchers to share their work, while establishing connections and international networks leading to collaborations that will advance venom research. The GRS specifically will aid in this endeavor by concluding with a panel of mentors from industry and academia to offer career advice and discuss their background with attendees, fostering the careers of the future leaders of venom research. The specific theme of the 2022 Venom GRC and GRS is “Bridging Gaps in Venom Research: From Ecology and Evolution to Socio-Economic Impacts”. The combined programs include 13 topical sessions featuring invited speakers and selected presentations by both early career and established researchers, and six interactive poster sessions to provide participants with a world-class view of the interdisciplinarity of venom research. The sessions highlight some of the most important challenges and opportunities for collaboration and interdisciplinary innovation in the venom field and include “Functional Ecology and Biodiversity of Venom”, “Emerging Models in Venom Research”, “Toxin Structure and Function” and “Biomedical and Pesticidal Applications of Venom” among others. The guiding principle of GRC and GRS is to encourage communication, discussion of ideas and unpublished results at the frontier of the field, emphasizing personal interactions and community-building. As such, these GRC and GRS meetings are an outstanding opportunity to build a strong, diverse and cohesive venom research community able to cultivate innovative approaches to address the most important challenges and opportunities for the field of venom research.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.