Gordon Conference on "Phosphorylation and G Protein Signaling Networks"

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We request partial funding support for operation of the Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Phosphorylation and G protein Signaling Networks. This conference, formerly known as "Second Messengers and Protein Phosphorylation" has been held annually since 1970, and has been a premier venue for the presentation of new discoveries in signal transduction. Investigators who initiated and attended this meeting from its inception were leaders who established the field of signal transduction, including several who have received Nobel Prizes (e.g., Earl Sutherland, Al Oilman, Stanley Cohen, Edwin Krebs, Edmond Fischer, Paul Nurse). The conference focuses on signal transduction mechanisms that regulate cell growth, differentiation, survival, and metabolism. A full understanding of these signaling mechanisms is scientifically and clinically important because their failure plays a direct role in contemporary health problems that affect millions of people worldwide, such as diabetes, obesity, cancer, aging, infectious disease, cardiovascular disease, neurodegeneration, and developmental disorders. Meeting topics cover networks of intracellular signaling pathways from a mechanistic viewpoint, and continue to highlight cutting edge discoveries by emerging from studies focused on protein covalent modifications, protein-protein and protein-nucleic acid interactions, and control by small molecule effectors. The University of New England became the new site for this meeting in 2005, and provides a rustic and handicapped-accessible venue to promote open interaction among participants. The 2006 meeting will be held from Sunday night June 11 and end on Thursday evening June 16. The speakers are encouraged to integrate biochemical, structural, cell-biological, and genomic approaches that provide a comprehensive understanding of the molecular aspects of signaling mechanisms as they relate to disease. Two plenary speakers were selected to set the stage for the conference and to challenge the participants to think about signal transduction from perspectives of the chemistry-biology interface. The conference will consist of 8 sessions, each with a discussion leader and 3-5 speakers, selected from investigators who have made important recent contributions. At least 45% of the invited speakers are either women or members of minority groups and 23% of invited speakers are new investigators (Asst/Assoc. level). Speakers in each session will develop the important paradigms in signal transduction. The emphasis will be on structural and functional understanding of the defining molecular mechanisms and their implications for disease and potential treatment strategies. The co-chairs will select 135 participants from applicants, including representatives from industry and academia, senior scientists, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students. A special effort will be made to recruit minority participants and participants from industry by a direct emailing program. Participants will be encouraged to present posters on new and interesting results each afternoon. Importantly, the conference provides a forum for young investigators to see the connection between fundamental scientific inquiry and the application of scientific methods to the design of efficacious interventions for human disease. To emphasize this goal, 8 poster presentations that complement the themes of the meeting will be selected for short oral presentations during the main sessions.