We are requesting via the R13 mechanism partial support for the 16th annual meeting of the PanAmerican Society for Pigment Cell research, """""""" Interdisciplinary and Translational Approaches to Pigment Cell Biology and Disease"""""""", to be held September 30 - October 2, 2010 in the British Columbia Cancer Research Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia. This venue is a wheelchair friendly facility with state-of-the- art video /multimedia equipments, and with space for exhibits, refreshment and board meeting needs. The subject of the last PASPCR meeting in 2009 (Memphis, TN) was how the pigmentary system responds to sun exposure in the context of cutaneous biology. However, pigmentation is a field that integrates scientists from many different disciplines and backgrounds, and recent advances in a number of areas hold tremendous promise for the development of new treatments for pigmentary diseases such as melanoma and vitiligo. Thus, the 2010 meeting will focus on interdisciplinary and translational approaches, and bring together clinicians, clinical scientists, and basic scientists. Planning for this year's conference has been underway for 18 months;we expect 125 - 150 attendees for a 2 1/2 day conference that includes 6 oral sessions, 3 special poster forums, and an honorary lecture by the recipient of this year's Aaron B Lerner Award. Invitations have been issued to 14 scientists to give keynote addresses, selected because of the importance of their research contributions and the diversity of fields represented by their laboratories;all have agreed to participate as invited speakers. The remainder of the participants will apply through a registration process that includes the option but not the requirement to give an oral or poster presentations. We estimate that 25% of the audience will represent graduate students or postdoctoral fellows, and that 25% will take advantage of 23 credits of continuing medical education under the auspices and approved by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and the American Medical Association. Attendees will leave the meeting with a deepened understanding of the latest discoveries in pigmentary biology and with cutting-edge tools for tackling problems across basic and clinical disciplines. Financial support for this meeting would have a considerable impact on the success of the conference and make it possible for the field's leading researchers and young scientists to participate.
Pigmentary biology lies at the intersection of developmental biology, endocrinology, genetics, and physiology, and is directly relevant to a set of debilitating and disfiguring human diseases including melanoma and vitiligo. Over the last decade, the field of pigmentary biology has matured to a point where a core group of basic scientists from diverse fields interact and collaborate with one another under the auspices of the International Federation of Pigment Cell Societies. However, there is still a gap between clinical scientists and basic scientists, and both a paucity and opportunity for advances in translation. We will hold the 16th annual scientific conference of the PanAmerican Society for Pigment Cell Research (PASPCR), on Interdisciplinary and Translational Approaches to Pigment Cell Biology and Disease, September 30 - Oct 2, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia. The conference will focus on New developments in the pathogenesis and treatment of pigment conditions and melanoma, and will juxtapose clinical and basic scientists in a series of 6 oral and 3 moderated poster sessions. The objectives of the conference are to review the latest developments in basic and clinical investigations, identify areas for future collaborative and interdisciplinary research that focus on improving human health with regard to melanoma, vitiligo, and other pigmentary disorders, build collaborative relationships between North American scientists and international experts, and identify the best strategies for the development of optimal therapies to address chronic pigmentation diseases such as vitiligo that disproportionately affect minority populations including African Americans and Hispanic Americans. We anticipate attendees will leave the meeting with a deepened understanding of the latest discoveries in pigmentary biology and with cutting-edge tools for tackling problems across basic and clinical disciplines. Financial support for this meeting would have a considerable impact on the success of the conference and make it possible for the field's leading researchers and young scientists to participate.
