New Horizons in Intervertebral Disc Research

描述（由申请人提供）：费城脊柱研究协会（PSRS）自2004年以来一直举办年度研究会议，2013年会议将是该协会的第二届国际会议。本提案旨在为将于2013年11月6日至8日在费城托马斯杰斐逊大学举行的第二届“椎间盘研究新视野”国际会议寻求支持。本次会议的主要目的是促进最先进的研究，并加强椎间盘生物学广泛领域的科学讨论和合作。以往的PSRS会议有很好的记录，汇集了来自不同职业阶段的众多学科的研究人员和临床医生。会议的主要特点包括全体演讲、最先进的同行评议报告、圆桌讨论以及学员和学生的报告。本次会议的显著特点是其轻松的氛围和有意不安排的时间，允许参与者之间的非正式互动和思想交流。2013年会议的主要议题包括椎间盘的分子、细胞和发育生物学，椎间盘疾病的发病机制，椎间盘源性疼痛的分子基础，脊柱生物力学，功能性组织工程，生物医学装置设计和康复。会议组织者希望基础研究人员以及关注脊柱疾病诊断和治疗的临床医生广泛参与。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Philadelphia Spine Research Society (PSRS) has been conducting annual research meetings since 2004 and the 2013 conference will be the second international meeting of the Society. This proposal seeks support for the Second International Conference "New Horizons in Intervertebral Disc Research" to be held November 6-8, 2013 at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia. The primary purpose of this conference is to promote state-of-the-art research, and to enhance scientific discourse and collaborations in the broad field of intervertebral disc biology. Previous PSRS conferences have had an excellent track record of bringing together researchers and clinicians from numerous disciplines at various stages of their careers. Key features of the meeting include plenary lectures, state-of-the-art peer-reviewed presentations, roundtable discussions and trainee and student presentations. Distinguishing features of this conference are its relaxed atmosphere and purposefully unscheduled time to permit informal interactions and exchange of ideas among participants. The main topics to be highlighted at the 2013 conference include molecular, cell and developmental biology of the disc, mechanisms of pathogenesis of disc disease, molecular basis of discogenic pain, biomechanics of the spine, functional tissue engineering, biomedical device design and rehabilitation. The conference organizers expect broad participation from basic researchers as well as clinicians concerned with diagnosis and treatment of spinal disorders.