FOURTH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF VERTEBRATE MORPHOLOGY

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The International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology (ICVM) promotes international cooperation in vertebrate morphology and between vertebrate morphology and other health-related basic sciences. The Fourth Congress will be the first in North America and is expected to attract distinguished scientists from many countries. The purposes of ICVM-4 are to make the most current research in vertebrate morphology available to North American scientists and to provide the syntheses between vertebrate morphology and its cognate fields that will provide direction through the 90's and into the next century. Holding of ICVM-4 in the U.S. presents a rare opportunity for a large number of Americans to be exposed to the work of European and other scholars. Although aspects of morphology are strongly represented in the U.S., many areas are centered elsewhere. Previously, only scientists who traveled to European meetings could take full advantage of new developments in these fields. The scientific focus of the Congress will be provided by an invited program consisting of (1) plenary lectures delineating the interactions between morphology and other areas, including molecular genetics and developmental biology, (2) informal, hands-on workshops intended to stimulate discussion and interaction, and (3) more formal symposia directed at major syntheses of modern research areas, such as integrating new molecular findings into the framework of organismal biology and exploring how physiological and paleontological evidence can be combined to illuminate structure. The Congress will also feature contributed paper and poster sessions in a format intended to enhance social interactions among the participants. This application requests support for 4 symposia (Vertebrate segmentation: mechanisms and evolution; Teeth: homeoboxes to function; Quantitative genetic basis for vertebrate morphology; Evolution of neural systems) plus a workshop and 3 plenary lectures on topics related to the symposia. Funds are also requested to support the travel of contributors from Eastern block and developing countries. The primary thrust of these offerings is an integration of new genetic points of view with developmental biology and morphology.