The 19th Annual Meeting of the Pan American Society for Pigment Cell Research Conference

 描述(由申请者提供)：泛美色素细胞研究学会(PASPCR)正准备于2015年9月27-30日在加利福尼亚州奥兰治举行第19届PASPCR年会，由PASPCR创始成员、医学博士Frank L.Meyskens Jr.博士带头。申请组织将是加州大学欧文分校。会议将在UCI医疗中心正对面的DoubleTree酒店(和会议室)举行，该酒店拥有丰富的医疗、科学和其他加州大学欧文分校健康活动的赞助经验。2015年PASPCR会议的主题是“黑素细胞及其多重生态位：健康和疾病中的新生物学”，将总结色素细胞生物学的最新进展，并重点讨论黑素细胞干细胞在恶性和非恶性疾病中的作用。会议的一个独特之处是聚焦于健康和疾病中的“内黑色素(及其形成和降解)”研讨会，该研讨会将重点讨论阿尔茨海默氏症和帕金森氏症等神经退化过程。研讨会的广泛主题反映了加州大学欧文分校的多学科、合作性质，该校的研究人员专注于色素细胞生物学和神经退行性疾病过程。科学组委会已经确定了来自美国和欧洲各地的几名基础科学家和临床专家作为特邀演讲者参加会议。这些人被要求就他们选择的主题提供一个简短的历史观点，介绍他们研究的最新发现，并强调与他们的工作相关的不同领域的当前挑战和机遇。这次研讨会的最终目标是促进临床医生、基础研究人员、神经科学家和色素细胞研究人员之间的跨学科讨论，最终将导致新的合作。尽管PASPCR的成员参加了其他传统的以学科为导向的会议，但这个论坛的独特之处在于，它将来自不同学科、具有不同兴趣的研究人员聚集在一起，在亲密的环境中孕育新的科学 互动和协作。PASPCR2015的总体目标是增加我们对黑素细胞正常和异常生物学的了解，特别是与干细胞相关的知识，以及被忽视的黑色素潜在参与神经退行性疾病的领域。2015年年度PASPCR的具体目标是：(1)突出细胞器生物发生、基因组学和干细胞生物学的最新进展，因为它们与黑素细胞发育和黑素细胞转化有关。(2)将基础科学家、临床科学家、神经学家和黑素细胞生物学家聚集在一起，以建立新的科学合作，从而在治疗孤儿色素障碍和神经退行性疾病方面取得进展，包括阿尔茨海默氏症和帕金森氏病。(3)为在神经变性和黑素细胞生物学领域发展事业的年轻研究人员提供指导，特别关注妇女和代表性不足的少数群体。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Pan-American Society for Pigment Cell Research (PASPCR) is preparing to hold the 19th Annual PASPCR Conference in Orange, California on September 27-30, 2015, spearheaded by founding PASPCR member, Dr. Frank L. Meyskens, Jr., M.D. The University of California, Irvine will be the applicant organization. The conference will be held directly across the street from UCI Medical Center at the DoubleTree Hotel (and conference rooms), which has extensive experience sponsoring medical, scientific, and other UC Irvine Health events. The 2015 PASPCR Conference theme, "The Melanocyte and Its Multiple Niches: New Biology in Health and Disease" will summarize recent advances in pigment cell biology and focus on the role of melanocyte stem cells in both malignant and non-malignant disorders. A unique feature of the meeting is the focused symposium on "inner melanin (and its formation and degradation)" in health and disease, which will focus on neurodegenerative processes such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. The broad-ranging theme of the symposium reflects the multidisciplinary, collaborative nature of UC Irvine, which has investigators that focus on both pigment cell biology and neurodegenerative disease processes. The scientific organizing committee has identified several basic scientists and clinical experts from across the United States and Europe to participate in the conference as invited speakers. These individuals have been asked to provide a brief historic perspective on their chosen topic, present the latest findings from their research, and highlight current challenges and opportunities in and across diverse fields related to their work. The ultimate goal of this symposium is to stimulate interdisciplinary discussions between clinicians, basic researchers, neuroscientists, and pigment cell researchers which will eventually lead to new collaborations. Although members of PASPCR participate in other traditional discipline-oriented conferences, this forum is unique in that it brings together investigators from different disciplines, with a diversity of interests, in an intimate setting in order to spawn new scientific interactions and collaborations. The overall objective of PASPCR 2015 is to increase our knowledge of the normal and abnormal biology of the melanocyte, especially as related to stem cells and the neglected area of melanin's potential involvement in neurodegenerative diseases. The specific aims of the 2015 annual PASPCR are: (1) To highlight recent advances in organelle biogenesis, genomics and stem cell biology as they relate to melanocyte development and melanocyte transformation. (2) To bring together basic scientists, clinical scientists, neuroscientists, and melanocyte biologists in order to forge new scientific collaborations that wil lead to advances in the treatment of orphan pigmentary disorders and neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. (3) To provide mentorship to young investigators who are developing careers in the fields of neurodegeneration and melanocyte biology, with a specific focus on women and underrepresented minorities.