American Society for Intercellular Communication (ASIC)

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Abstract: The current R13 proposal is from the American Society for Intercellular Communication (ASIC) which was created in January 2021 with a goal of creating a home for research encompassing emerging mediators and pathways of intercellular communication (IC) beyond the scope of the existing societies. Organizers have focused on regular yearly meetings with interest in extracellular vesicles, Biomolecular Condensates and RNA (EV/EP/ExRNA) and other complex pathways of molecular exchange. The 2nd meeting (October 13th- 15th, 2022) had 149 participants, 95% attended in-person. We started with a “Pre- meeting” session with talks from NCATS, NIDDK, NIC, and NHLBI program officers and their funded PIs. Nobel Laurette Dr. Thomas Sudhof was our keynote speaker for the opening Thursday night session. The 2023 current meeting will provide an intellectual home for young scientists who are interested in basic science and bench to bedside related EV and non-EV type of research. The location of the meeting (Bolger Center; Potomac, MD) provides a platform that allows direct communication between PIs and program officers from government agencies with interest in EV research including NIH, NIST, FDA, and NSF. The meeting is unique and novel in many ways including topics covering a broad range of IC processes far beyond the focus of existing societies that have largely been dominated by exosome- related research. Also, the cost of the meeting is low, so that students, postdocs, and PIs can afford to attend; there is a proposed pre-meeting workshop which allows direct contact with POs from various NIH funding agencies; the meeting will increase the DEI pool with emphasis on women and minority trainees; inclusion of a mentoring session (speed dating) will promote a cross talk for creating mentor- mentee pairs, that will help young trainees; and a grant writing workshop is unique in that it discusses how to write various types of EV and non-EV grants (i.e., K, R, T, P and U series for NIH) for early and seasoned investigators. Our Aims for the 2023 meeting include: Bring together investigators from diverse basic science and clinical fields to discuss and advance understanding of the multifactorial impact of EV/EP/ExRNA in diagnostics, treatments, and a basic understanding of the biogenesis of normal vs. diseases states (AIM 1); Engage young new investigators (including women and minorities) in the field of EV/EP/ExRNA and their advancement in becoming independent successful colleagues by helping them write better grants (AIM 2); and Bring together interested parties to discuss relevant key significant topics regarding IC, and disseminate information presented at the conference to the scientific community- at-large as well as to health care providers and the general public. This would also help in finding qualified reviewers for NIH study sections (AIM 3).