The 2013 Gordon research Conference on Cell Growth and Proliferation will be held at Mount Snow Resort, West Dover, VT from June 23 - 28. The conference will bring together approximately 200 investigators, post- doctoral fellows and students for a discussion of recent advances in the areas of cell cycle control, growth and G1 progression, chromosome replication and dynamics, mitosis, DNA damage and cell cycle checkpoints, oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes, signal transduction, development and cancer stem cells, animal models for cancer, and clinical applications. This proposal requests funds to provide partial support for travel and subsistence expenses for invited participants from North America and overseas. This conference will be a timely and important meeting in an area that is rapidly growing. This conference is fairly unique in that it provides a format that brings together an extraordinary range of investigators whose collective approaches encompass cell biological, biochemical, molecular and genetic methods that address central issues in the regulation of cellular proliferation. The Gordon Conference format provides a unique environment that encourages informal and open discussion among the participants and this in turn fosters initiation of collaborative efforts and stimulates future research directions.
The 2013 Gordon research Conference on Cell Growth and Proliferation addresses issues that are critically related to our general understanding of how cells grow, divide, differentiate into diverse tissue types, and respond to signals in their environments. Defects and abnormalities in cell growth, proliferation, and differentiation underlie a very large number of human diseases, particularly cancer, but also diseases as diverse as birth defects, and age-related illnesses such as neurodegeneration. A clear understanding of the cellular processes involved in controlling cell growth and cell number is critical for the development of preventive strategies and therapeutic treatments for all of these human diseases.
