2017 Neural Crest and Cranial Placodes GRC/GRS (GRS: February 4-5, 2017, GRC: February 5-10, 2017, Ventura, California

神经嵴和颅面斑块戈登研究会议（NC CP GRC）的目标是将研究人员聚集在一起交流思想，形成合作，并指导研究基础生物学研究这一领域的年轻科学家。神经嵴和颅基板是生长中的胚胎的临时结构，它们共同构建大脑和脊髓外的所有神经细胞，例如控制肠道的神经，使我们的嗅觉，听觉和平衡感的感觉器官，以及眼睛晶状体，大部分头骨，牙齿的一些细胞和所有皮肤色素细胞。会议将讨论这些基本结构的进化起源，以及它们在发育过程中如何形成这些不同类型的细胞和器官。NC CP GRC是在一个允许各级科学家讨论研究这些胚胎结构的问题和进展的环境中举行的。 该计划还将为各种背景的年轻科学家提供指导机会，包括一个非正式论坛，讨论女性在科学领域的专业成长和挑战，以及由年轻科学家组织和举办的研究生研究研讨会。该研讨会使初级研究人员能够在非正式的同龄人环境中展示他们的数据，因此他们获得了信心和友情，并包括教师领导的职业导师小组讨论，“学术研究的不同面孔。“一个多样化的演讲者已经组装，与19进一步的演讲，从提交的摘要中选择，由妇女，代表性不足的少数民族，和初级研究人员提出。神经嵴和颅板戈登研究会议（NC CP GRC）独特地考虑两种不同的胚胎细胞类型，神经嵴和颅板，传统上被单独研究。这些胚胎结构在发育过程中共同促成了各种各样的细胞类型，包括整个外周神经系统、感觉器官、色素细胞、颅面骨骼和牙齿。神经嵴和颅基板来自早期外胚层内的相邻区域，它们的初始图案受到协调信号的影响。它们提供了综合的，实验上易于处理的系统，用于研究细胞，发育，进化和系统生物学中的一系列基本问题。对神经嵴细胞的研究开创了对上皮-间充质转化以及细胞迁移的基本性质的理解，并且有助于定义许多组织群体中的一般干细胞性质。利用系统生物学方法构建控制脊椎动物发育的基因调控网络，在神经嵴和颅板的研究中已成为先驱。神经嵴和颅板的出现和多样化被认为是脊椎动物进化的关键。这次会议将汇集一批不同的科学家在一个合议的气氛，以促进实质性的讨论和促进合作。它将加速不同模型系统之间的信息交换，包括进化观点，促进技术创新，并促进对这两个关键胚胎群体形成，细胞行为和分化的潜在细胞机制的理解。

The goal of the Neural Crest and Cranial Placodes Gordon Research Conference (NC&CP GRC) is to bring researchers together to exchange ideas, form collaborations, and mentor young scientists studying this area of fundamental biological research. The neural crest and cranial placodes are temporary structures in growing embryos that together build all the nerve cells outside the brain and spinal cord, such as the nerves that control the gut, the sense organs enabling our senses of smell, hearing and balance, and also the eye lenses, much of the skull, some cells of the teeth, and all skin pigment cells. The conference sessions will discuss the evolutionary origins of these essential structures, and how they work during development to form these different types of cells and organs. The NC&CP GRC is held in a setting that allows scientists at all levels to discuss problems and advances in studying these embryo structures. The program will also allow opportunities to mentor young scientists of all backgrounds, including an informal forum to discuss the professional growth and challenges women face in science, and a Graduate Research Seminar organized and run by junior scientists. This seminar enables junior researchers to present their data in an informal, peer-group setting, so they gain confidence and camaraderie, and includes a faculty-led Career Mentorship Panel discussion, "The Different Faces of Academic Research." A diverse set of speakers has been assembled, with 19 further talks, selected from submitted abstracts, to be presented by women, under-represented minorities, and junior researchers.The Neural Crest and Cranial Placodes Gordon Research Conference (NC&CP GRC) uniquely considers two distinct embryonic cell types, the neural crest and the cranial placodes, that have traditionally been studied separately. These embryonic structures together contribute to a wide variety of cell types during development, including the entire peripheral nervous system, sense organs, pigment cells, the craniofacial skeleton, and teeth. Neural crest and cranial placodes are derived from adjacent domains within the early ectoderm and their initial patterning is influenced by coordinated signals. They provide integrated, experimentally tractable systems for investigating a broad array of fundamental questions in cell, developmental, evolutionary, and systems biology. Study of neural crest cells has pioneered the understanding of fundamental properties of epithelial-mesenchymal transitions as well as cell migration, and has been instrumental in defining general stem cell properties across numerous tissue populations. The use of systems biology methods to construct the gene regulatory networks that control vertebrate development has been pioneered in the study of neural crest and cranial placodes. The emergence and diversification of the neural crest and cranial placodes is thought to have been critical for vertebrate evolution. This conference will bring together a diverse group of scientists in a collegial atmosphere to foster substantive discussions and promote collaboration. It will accelerate the exchange of information across different model systems, include an evolutionary perspective, promote technological innovations, and advance understanding of the underlying cellular mechanisms governing the formation, cellular behavior, and differentiation of these two critical embryonic populations.