Alcohol misuse is one of the world's leading preventable health risks. Alcohol use and abuse is a causal factor in over 60 different diseases and injuries putting an enormous health and economic burden on societies worldwide. The major share of alcohol-induced morbidity and mortality is attributable to alcohol-induced end organ diseases, including cancer, alcoholic liver disease, pancreatitis, osteoporosis, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, arrhythmias, stroke, pneumonia and fetal alcohol syndrome. Alcohol use disorders are on the rise in all segments of society and they often synergize with other diseases that have reached epidemic proportions including obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, drug abuse and immunological maladies. Despite the significant advances of the field over the last two decades, the underlying disease etiology is poorly understood and there is an urgent need to gain new knowledge of the molecular underpinnings of alcohol-induced end organ diseases to accelerate diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. In this R13 application, we are seeking support for the Gordon Research Conferences (GRC) Alcohol-induced End Organ Diseases 2021 and 2023. This is a relatively new GRC, which was initiated three years ago held extremely successful meetings in 2017 and 2019. The open format of GRC model includes sharing significant unpublished work and provides ample opportunities for in-depth discussions with peers, new colleagues and the future generation of alcohol researchers; this conference model is ideally suited for propelling the field to new heights. The overall goal of the Alcohol-induced End Organ Diseases meetings are to foster open discussion of research developments, establish new scientific collaborations, and propel the next generation of scientific advances. This GRC fills a critical need in the field for a continuing meeting that presents key recent findings on alcohol-induced end organ injury and repair in a unique format that ensures time for in-depth discussions, formulation of new approaches and initiation of new collaborations. This conference will 1) provide a forum that promotes open discussion of cutting edge research at the forefront of alcohol-induced tissue injury, 2) foster the development of the next generation of alcohol and tissue injury investigators, 3) promote interaction between young and senior investigators, 4) facilitate the exchange of ideas that will shape the future directions of the alcohol and tissue injury community and 5) introduce breakthrough techniques that facilitate the understanding of mechanisms driving alcohol-induced tissue injuries. We envision the GRC on ?Alcohol induced end organ diseases? will significantly advance current understanding of the underlying mechanisms of end organ injuries and stimulate development of effective therapeutic strategies for the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of alcohol use disorders.
The Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on ?Alcohol-Induced End Organ Diseases? will create a state-of-the- art forum for discussion of in alcohol research, including studies of acute and chronic alcohol exposure across the entire spectrum of lifespan on the significant and widespread detrimental organ system effects of alcohol. The conference will provide a unique forum to bring together a diverse range of young and established alcohol researchers, and experts in complementary fields, to discuss groundbreaking advances in how alcohol consumption results in tissue injury. The meeting format employed by the GRC facilitates open discussions, builds bridges in between investigators in different disciplines, as well as between preclinical and clinical investigators and fosters the development of the next generation of alcohol researchers.
