This proposal requests funds to support a two-day international symposium entitled """"""""Photocarcinogenesis: Mechanisms, Models and Human Health Implications"""""""" to be held on October 27 and 28, 1995 in Washington, D.C. The major objective of this symposium is to provide a forum in which investigators working in photocarcinogenesis research, clinicians who manage patients with cutaneous malignancies, and officials from governmental agencies that are involved in the biomedical effects of ultraviolet radiation exposure can come together to learn of recent experimental findings and to discuss controversies in the area. To achieve this goal, leading experts from around the world working in virtually all major areas of photocarcinogenesis research will provide meeting participants with the latest scientific information in the discipline. Importantly, speakers will address the relevance of animal models and in vitro data to UV- induced skin cancer in humans. The scientific program is divided into six sessions on Photocarcinogenesis: (1) Epidemiology, Model Systems and Regulatory Aspects; (2) Molecular and Biochemical Aspects; (3) Immunology; (4) Malignant Melanoma; (5) Genetics; and (6) Prevention. Each session will be moderated by an authority in the area, and will conclude with a round table discussion in which speakers and attendees exchange ideas about the information presented. To maximize interaction among speakers and attendees, the meeting will be limited to 200 registrants. Attendees who are not invited as speakers will be encouraged to present their own current research findings in a poster session format. Funds are budgeted for travel grants to eight young investigators who will be presenting their work at the meeting. Most importantly, speakers and attendees will participate in discussions to formulate research priorities in photocarcinogenesis for the next decade. A summary of the meeting will be prepared and will be published in either Cancer Research, an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, the official journal of the Society for Investigative Dermatology, and/or in Photochemistry and Photobiology, an official journal of the American Society for Photobiology.
