2006 Proteoglycans Gordon Research Conferences

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The 12th Gordon Conference on Proteoglycans will be held July 9th-14th at Proctor Academy in Andover, New Hampshire, USA. The purpose of this meeting will be to bring together members of the proteoglycan research community from around the world to present and discuss the most recent discoveries in the structure, function, and genetics of proteoglycans, with particular focus on signaling in disease mechanisms. The conference will continue the leading role that it has played over the past 20 years in serving as a catalyst for growth in this research community. The proteoglycan research group includes worldwide experts in chemical, cell biological, biochemical, engineering and clinical areas from academic, government and corporate laboratories. The major themes to be covered in the program include 1) Biosynthesis and Structure of Glycosaminoglycans, 2) Structure-Activity of Glycosaminoglycans in Growth Factor and Chemokine Signaling, 3) Proteoglycan Signaling in the Musculoskeletal System, 4) Proteoglycans in Cell Signaling Mechanisms, 5) Proteoglycans in Development, 6) Proteoglycans in Injury and Inflammation, 7) Proteoglycans in Cancer, and 8) Proteoglycans in Disease Models. We have planned nine sessions with a total of 31 plenary talks, with each session chaired by a known expert in the field. The speakers for the plenary talks are chosen with the primary goal of representing the top recent findings in the field. Additionally, the conference will encourage the participation of "new faces," namely, experts from other fields or disease specialties that have discovered new roles for proteoglycans in their area of expertise, or are speakers that are newly emerging on the international stage with new strategies or insights. In addition, another 20-25 short talks will be selected from the submitted abstracts, providing speaking opportunities for conferees with new and exciting findings, to provide opportunities for newer and underrepresented investigators, and to cover topics underrepresented in the plenary talks. The talks will be supplemented by active poster sessions and discussions. In all, investigators participating in this conference will be at all levels, including investigators currently funded by NIAMS, NCI, NIDCR, NINDS, NHLBI, NIA, NIDDK, NICHD, NIGMS, NCCR and other NIH Institutes. As has been the tradition at this conference, approximately a third of the planned presentations will report novel data on the role of proteoglycans in mechanisms relevant to inflammation and arthritis and other diseases of the musculoskeletal system and bone; major emphasis will also be given to proteoglycans in the cell biology of cancer invasion and tumor angiogenesis, and diseases of the vascular system and heart, and kidney, brain, and skin. Emphasis will also be given to proteoglycan signaling mechanisms and organ development. The culmination of the meeting will be two talks focused on new methodologies of discovery and approaches for new drug design based on newly discovered mechanisms. The goal of the conference is to promote the exchange of new findings, concepts and technology related to proteoglycan research into human disease. It is anticipated that the outcome of the conference will be an enhanced understanding of numerous human diseases, including those of human development, the musculoskeletal system, nervous system, vascular system, immunity and cancer, and that this understanding will ultimately lead to the formulation of new drugs for combating these diseases.