Second International Melanoma Research Congress

描述（由申请人提供）：在过去的40年里，黑色素瘤的发病率一直在持续上升，2003年美国大约有56,000例新病例和9,500例死亡。致力于黑色素瘤研究的研究团体分散在许多学科中，包括皮肤科医生、肿瘤学家、外科医生、放射科医生、流行病学家、遗传学家、基础生物学家、免疫学家和分子生物学家。在NCI和NIAMS的支持下，于2003年6月21日至24日组织了第一届黑色素瘤研究大会，自80年代末以来，该社区只召开过一次全国会议。大会取得了巨大成功，有近400名与会者。计划于2004年11月13日至16日举行的第二届黑色素瘤研究大会旨在再次将不同的团体聚集在一起，加强基础研究人员和转化研究人员之间的联系。由新成立的黑色素瘤研究协会赞助，邀请了53位代表黑色素瘤研究各个领域的演讲者。这些演讲者将为黑素瘤研究人员提供当前研究状况的全面概述。近年来，主要在黑色素瘤领域之外工作的研究小组对科学做出了重大贡献。这些团体正开始被纳入社区，大会的一个目标是使他们成为黑色素瘤研究工作的一个组成部分。会议对研究界的主要贡献将来自信息和思想的交流，以建立和促进研究小组之间的合作，并促进代表黑色素瘤研究的不同学科的交叉发展。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The incidence of melanoma has been continuously rising for the last 40 years, resulting in approximately 56,000 new cases and 9,500 deaths in the US in 2003. The research community devoted to melanoma is scattered among many disciplines, including dermatologists, oncologists, surgeons, radiologists, epidemiologists, geneticists, basic biologists, immunologists, and molecular biologists. The community has had only one national meeting since the late eighties until the First Melanoma Research Congress from June 21 to 24, 2003 was organized with support from NCI and NIAMS. The congress was a major success with nearly 400 attendees. The planned Second Melanoma Research Congress from November 13 to 16, 2004, aims to again bring the diverse groups together and strengthen the ties between basic and translational researchers. Sponsored by the newly founded Society for Melanoma Research, 53 speakers have been invited who represent all areas of melanoma research. These speakers will provide the community of melanoma investigators with a comprehensive overview of the current state of research. Major contributions to science have come in recent years from research groups working primarily outside of the melanoma field. These groups are beginning to be incorporated into the community and it is an aim of the Congress that they become an integral part of the melanoma research efforts. The major contribution of the meeting to the research community will flow from the exchange of information and ideas to establish and facilitate collaborations between research groups and to cross-fertilize the diverse disciplines representing melanoma research. The congress will begin on Saturday evening, November 13, 2004, with keynote addresses by two members of basic and translational melanoma fields. On Sunday and Monday, November 14 and 15 there will be sessions in the morning and afternoon, and each late afternoon will have poster sessions for the different research areas. Each session will have four pre-selected speakers with the chair providing a general overview over the entire field. Each will have one translational speaker to ensure that the research field relates to clinical questions. One additional speaker is selected from abstracts to ensure that young researchers and researchers from minorities and other disadvantaged groups are provided a forum. The sessions cover immunology, epidemiology, biology, genetics, tumor microenvironment, genomics, staging and clinical trials, melanocyte development, biomarkers, metastasis and apoptosis. This second congress will strengthen the field and solidify the ties between the different research and clinical communities.