2015 Salivary Glands and Exocrine Biology Gordon Research Conference

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application requests partial support for the tenth Gordon Research Conference on "Salivary Glands and Exocrine Biology" entitled "Development, homeostasis and repair of secretory organs: their microenvironments and the signals that control them" to be held February 15-20, 2015 at the Hotel Galvez, Galveston, TX. This meeting focuses on the formation, maintenance, function and repair of secretory organs. Talks will cover a range of model systems from invertebrate secretory glands to the professional secretory organs of higher animals, including the pancreas, gut, lungs, lacrimal, mammary, and salivary glands. Several exciting sessions are planned that will cover design principles underlying salivary gland and secretory organ development, recent advances in secretory cell biology, the role of mucins and other secretory cargo in epithelial organs, the machinery and circuitry regulating secretion, the role of secretion in host-microbe interactions, secretory organ diseases, and, finally, recent advances in the regeneration and repair of secretory organs. One session is dedicated to recent technological advances in imaging, gene editing and genome-wide approaches to understanding secretory biology. The meeting provides a unique setting bringing together basic scientists and clinicians from around the world working on the salivary gland and other exocrine organs. The relatively isolated meeting site at which all meals are shared will provide ample time to develop critical liaisons between experienced and new researches, between clinicians and basic scientists, and among individuals addressing a range of biological questions with a variety of approaches. Salivary function is essential to our abilityto process food, talk and protect our oral cavity from the bacterial and fungal infections that lead t tooth decay and other oral health problems. The goal of this meeting is to accelerate progress in research in salivary gland and exocrine gland biology with the ultimate goal of discovering better therapies for treating salivary gland and exocrine organ diseases. To achieve this goal, many experts in secretory organ biology have been invited to give oral presentations at this meeting and all attendees will be encouraged to present recent findings in afternoon poster sessions. The oral presentation schedule will also include shorter talks to be selected from the poster abstracts. This will ensure that recent exciting discoveries are presented at the meeting and that many younger people will be speaking. Overall, the goals of this meeting fit well with the NIDCR's mission to "improve oral, dental and craniofacial health through research, research training, and the dissemination of health information". In particular, this meeting will promote th sharing of knowledge obtained from recent studies in secretory organ biology to ultimately guide oral health policies and disease treatment.