2011 Bones & Teeth Gordon Research Conference

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Gordon Research Conference on Bones & Teeth is designed to provide scientists at different levels of training and accomplishments and from a wide range of disciplines, with a forum for presentation and discussion of cutting-edge research findings, ideas and hypotheses in the areas of bone and tooth evolution, development, aging and disease, with particular emphasis on genetic, molecular and cellular mechanisms and potential for repair and regeneration. Established as an annual meeting in 1954, this research conference has been held every 2 years since 1989; it is part of over 150 conferences that will be organized in 2011 by the GRC, known internationally for organizing meetings of high-quality, cutting-edge science. The meeting in 2009 was extremely successful and received a High Performance rating by the participants. The 2011 GRC on Bones & Teeth will be held June 19-24, 2011, at Les Diablerets Conference Center, Switzerland. The program features internationally recognized leaders as speakers and discussion leaders and is organized around the theme of "Evolutionary and developmental mechanisms of skeletal and tooth biology and disease". Recent progress in understanding evolutionary and developmental mechanisms is informing efforts to identify novel therapeutic targets in major diseases of bones and teeth and provides the conceptual basis for development of stem cell-based methods for regeneration and repair. Genetic studies of adaptive evolutionary change in populations, made possible by recent advances in genome technologies and high throughput sequencing complement studies of disease-associated mutations in humans and reverse genetic analyses of animal models. These studies open doors to new insights into detailed mechanisms of bone and tooth development and homeostasis and they are likely to accelerate the translation of basic research findings into clinical interventions. For the second time in the history of this conference, a pre- conference Gordon Research Seminar will be organized June 18-19 by junior investigators around the theme of "Cell niche microenvironments in bone and tooth development and regeneration". The program of the seminar, featuring participation of two senior investigators (selected by the participants of the previous seminar) in a mentoring capacity, is aimed at (a) allowing trainees (graduate students and postdoctoral fellows) to present and receive feedback on their ongoing research projects, (b) providing a forum for intense discussion among trainees of developmental and regenerative mechanisms, in preparation for participation in the subsequent Gordon Research Conference, and (c) facilitating networking among trainees and stimulating discussion of research opportunities and career options with the mentoring faculty. We anticipate that the 2011 GRS/GRC on Bones & Teeth will stimulate international exchange of research data, ideas, reagents and methods; promote new collaborations; facilitate graduate student and postdoctoral exchange; help define new research directions and increase quality and clinical impact of skeletal and dental research.