Sixth International Melanocortin Meeting: From Molecules to Biology and Disease

描述(申请人提供)：我们通过R13机制请求支持将于2010年7月8日至11日在荷兰乌得勒支举行的关于黑色素皮质素生物学的特别会议“第六届国际黑素皮质素会议：从分子到生物学和疾病”。在过去的32年里，有五次会议聚焦于这组迷人的多肽荷尔蒙及其靶标。今年的会议将讨论自2002年在俄勒冈州桑里弗举行的上一次会议以来取得的显著进展，并预示着下一个十年的进展。我们正在计划一次有250人参加的国际会议。我们的目标受众包括皮肤科、内分泌科、生理学和遗传学系的基础和临床科学家，以及拥有黑素皮质素生物学项目的制药和生物技术公司的代表。尽管会议的重点将是研究而不是教育，但我们将强调和鼓励信息交流，我们估计25%的观众将代表研究生或博士后研究员，25%的观众将来自非学术环境。经过组织者的初步讨论，向40名科学家发出了邀请，因为他们的研究贡献很重要，而且他们的实验室代表的领域很多样化；已有33名科学家同意作为特邀发言者参加。其余参与者将通过注册程序申请，其中包括口头或海报演示的选项，但不包括考虑的要求。此外，我们将从青年科学家中挑选出顶级摘要，以获得小额旅行奖励的部分支持。评选标准将以摘要评价的科学性和新颖性为标准，并由主办方协商一致决定。我们预计，与会者离开会议时，将对黑色素皮质素生物学的最新发现以及解决基础和临床学科问题的尖端工具有更深入的了解。对这次会议的财政支持将对会议的成功产生相当大的影响，并使该领域的主要研究人员有可能参加。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We are requesting support via the R13 mechanism for a special conference on Melanocortin Biology, "The 6th International Melanocortin Meeting: From Molecules to Biology and Disease", to be held 8 - 11 July, 2010 in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Over the last 32 years, five conferences have focused on this fascinating group of peptide hormones and their targets. This year's meeting will cover the remarkable progress that has been made since the last conference in 2002 in Sunriver, Oregon, and herald advances for the next decade. We are planning an international conference with 250 participants. Our targeted audience includes basic and clinical scientists from departments of dermatology, endocrinology, physiology, and genetics, as well as representatives from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies with melanocortin biology programs. Although the meeting will focus on research rather than education, we will emphasize and encourage the exchange of information, and we estimate that 25% of the audience will represent graduate students or postdoctoral fellows, and that 25% will come from non-academic settings. After initial discussions among the organizers, invitations were issued to 40 scientists, selected because of the importance of their research contributions, and the diversity of fields represented by their laboratories; 33 have agreed to participate as invited speakers. The remainder of the participants will apply through a registration process that includes the option but not the requirement to be considered for an oral or poster presentation. In addition, we will select the top abstracts from young scientists for partial support with small travel awards. The criteria for selection will be scientific strength and novelty as evaluated by the abstract, and will be decided by consensus among the organizers. We anticipate attendees will leave the meeting with a deepened understanding of the latest discoveries in melanocortin biology and with cutting-edge tools for tackling problems across basic and clinical disciplines. Financial support for this meeting would have a considerable impact on the success of the conference and make it possible for the field's leading researchers to participate.