FASEB Summer Research Conference on "The Biology and Chemistry of Vision"

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DESCRIPTION: This application is for partial support for the 12th biennial Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology (FASEB) conference on "The Biology and Chemistry of Vision" to be held June 16-21, 2007 in Snowmass Village, Colorado. Since its inception in 1985 this has been one of the premier meetings focused on photoreceptor biology. The major goal of the 2007 meeting is to highlight the recent advances and current state of our knowledge of photoreceptor function under both normal and diseased conditions. Nine multidisciplinary platform sessions and two poster sessions will cover the most recent advances in the cell biology, biochemistry, physiology, biophysics, and genetics of vision with particular emphasis on understanding how environmental insult or genetic mutation can lead to visual loss. The overall organization of the meeting will revolve around three broad themes. The first involves the molecular details of vision with platforms sessions on cone photoreceptors, the visual pigment cycle, and photo-transduction. The second theme relates to genes and human disease including the future prospects for "gene therapy" for photoreceptor disease. The third theme relates to understanding the cellular mechanisms that produce and support photoreceptor organization and will include sessions on post-Golgi trafficking, intersegmental transport, and cytoskeletal organization. The meeting format is ideal for bringing senior investigators together with trainees in a setting that permits in depth analysis of data and ideas. The funding requested in this application will be used to support travel and conference expenses for pre- and post-doctoral trainees, and entry level scientists that have not yet established their own research programs.