Xenopus is a widely-used model organism for basic biomedical discovery. This application requests funds to support the 17th International Xenopus Conference. Held every two years since 1984, this biennial meeting?s prime objective is to provide a forum for information exchange and interaction amongst researchers using Xenopus as a model organism for biomedical research. The last iteration of this meeting (in the United States) was attended by over 350 researchers from all over the world. In addition to serving as a platform for information exchange, this meeting will also provide 1) a venue for introducing younger scientists to more established members of the field, 2) an opportunity for the Xenopus community to learn about the latest technologies and to coordinate its infrastructure, and 3) an opportunity to introduce this powerful model organism to students from under-represented groups. This meeting will have a significant impact because Xenopus is widely used in developmental biology, cell biology, molecular biology, and neurobiology, and many of the most exciting discoveries now are coming from the interfaces between these disciplines. By bringing together researchers with divergent research interested, but a common model system, the meeting should foster outstanding interdisciplinary thinking. Modern biology demands that we be well-informed, broad-based, organized, and collaborative in our approaches, and the International Xenopus Conference will facilitate exactly that style of science.
Animal models serve an essential function in basic biomedical science, and the frog Xenopus has been an enormously successful model for basic biomedical discovery. The community of Xenopus biologists needs a meeting to successfully encourage well-informed, broad-based, organized, and collaborative approaches, and the International Xenopus Conference will facilitate exactly that style of science while encouraging attendance of diverse and junior scientists.
