Placenta Association of the Americas Conference Grant

 描述(申请人提供)：胎盘结构和功能的改变不仅会导致严重的妊娠并发症，还会通过为胎儿未来的新陈代谢和心血管疾病设定程序来决定终身健康。不幸的是，将胎盘功能改变与不良的短期和长期结局联系起来的机制是复杂的，而且在很大程度上仍然不清楚。为了更好地了解胎盘生物学和病理生理学，需要一种利用广泛尖端技术的多学科方法。由于缺乏以胎盘生物学为重点的科学会议，这一领域的进展受到阻碍。这项R13拨款提案的主要目的是满足胎盘研究中传播新概念和交流思想的多学科、互动论坛的迫切需要。第二个目标是在胎盘生物学领域提供一个低成本、高质量的学习环境，这将鼓励研究生、住院医生以及临床和博士后研究员出席并激发兴趣。在我们的会议计划中，我们寻求支持在生殖调查学会(SRI)年度科学会议的前一天举行为期一天的年度会议，作为卫星会议。通过这种设计，我们将最大限度地发挥会议的影响，并将允许不同的基础科学家和临床研究人员出席，从研究生到知名研究人员。会议将有充足的时间进行互动、非正式讨论和建立联系，预计每年将吸引120-150人参加。该计划将有一个平衡的组合，由该领域的领导者提供的“最新”讲座，新兴的概念演示，以及受训人员的简短演讲。所有发言者将被要求提供充足的时间提问和讨论。这一提议意义重大，因为这次会议是及时的，将促进对胎盘生物学的新的科学研究，预计将为未来的创新铺平道路，以开发监测体内胎盘功能的方法，并针对胎盘进行干预。该提案包括许多创新方面。例如，我们建议通过每年邀请一名在胎盘生物学以外的研究领域工作的演讲者来促进来自其他研究领域的新概念的使用和适应。为了给早期职业调查人员提供充分的机会与演讲者联系、讨论和互动，我们建议组织会议午餐，以便在培训中，调查人员将可以直接接触到小组中的演讲者。预计拟议的会议将对这一领域产生重大和持续的影响，因为它独特地将代表不同但互补的专门知识的世界领先的研究人员聚集在一个创造性和互动式的论坛上，这对于解决与胎盘在决定从胎儿生命到成年的健康和疾病方面的作用有关的复杂科学问题是必要的。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Changes in placental structure and function not only cause serious pregnancy complications but also determine life-long health by programming the fetus for future metabolic and cardiovascular disease. Unfortunately, the mechanisms linking altered placental function to poor short- and long-term outcomes are complex and remain largely unknown. To better understand placental biology and pathophysiology, a multidisciplinary approach utilizing a wide array of cutting edge technologies is required. Progress in this area is hampered by the lack of scientific meetings focused on placental biology. The primary objective of this R13 grant proposal is to meet the urgent need of a multidisciplinary, interactive forum for dissemination of novel concepts and exchange of ideas in placental research. The secondary objective is to provide a low cost, high-quality learning environment in the area of placental biology, which will encourage attendance and stimulate interest by graduate students, residents, and clinical and postdoctoral fellows. In our conference plan we seek support for an annual one-day conference as a satellite meeting the day before the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society of Reproductive Investigation (SRI). By this design we will maximize the impact of the meeting and will allow for attendance of a diverse group of basic scientists and clinical investigators ranging from graduate students to well established researchers. The meeting will allow ample time for interaction, informal discussion and networking and is anticipated to attract 120-150 attendees each year. The program will have a balanced mix of "state of the art" lectures presented by the leaders in the field, emerging concept presentations, and shorter talks by trainees. All speakers will be mandated to provide ample time for questions and discussion. This proposal is significant because the meeting is timely and will promote novel scientific inquiry into placental biology, which is expected to pave the way for future innovation to develop approaches to monitor placental function in vivo and to target the placenta for intervention. The proposal includes numerous innovative aspects. For example, we propose to facilitate the utilization and adaptation of emerging concepts from other research fields by inviting one speaker each year that works in a research area other than placental biology. To provide ample opportunities for early career investigators to connect, discuss, and interact with the speakers we propose to organize the conference lunch so that in training investigators will have direct access to speakers in a small group. The proposed meeting is expected to have significant and sustained impact on the field because it is unique in bringing together world-leading investigators representing diverse but complementary expertise in a creative and interactive forum, which is necessary to address the complex scientific questions pertaining to the role of placenta in determining health and disease from fetal life to adulthood.