The International p53 Workshops have consistently attracted scientists in the p53 field to interact, discuss their latest scientific findings and plan collaborations. The series is now well-established in the p53 scientific community and beyond, and it is attended by all experts in the field. The p53 tumor suppressor, which is the focus of the Workshop, is involved in human cancer more often than any other gene known. Particularly strong connections are with skin cancer, where UV-irradiation leads to mutations in p53, and with colon carcinoma, where chemical carcinogens induce mutations in p53. Remarkably, each type of environmental carcinogen causes a specific genetic lesion in the p53 gene, allowing scientists to identify the culprit from the type of mutation. At a cellular level, p53 is involved in cell cycle arrest, senescence and apoptosis. The 10th International p53 Workshop is organized by the University of California at San Francisco, California. The Workshop will be held in Monterey, California, United States between April 5th-8th, 2000. The organizing committee consists, in alphabetical order, of: Dr. Thanos Halazonetis, (Wistar Institute, USA), Dr. Curtis Harris (NCI, USA), Dr. David Lane (U. Dundee, UK), Dr. Arnold Levine (Rockefellar U., USA), Dr. Frank McCormick (UCSF Cancer Center, USA), Dr. Moshe Oren (Weizmann Institute, Israel), Dr. Carol Prives (Columbia U., USA), Dr. Varda Rotter (Weizmann Institute, Israel), Dr. Thierry Soussi (Genotoxilogie et Modulation De I'Expression Genique, France), Dr. Thea Tlsty, Ph.D., Chair (U. of California, San Francisco, USA), Dr. Karen Vousden (NCI, USA) and Dr. Geoffrey Wahl (Salk Institute, USA). So far the organizing committee is raising significant funds to cover the expenses of invited speakers. However, a second important goal is to secure travel fellowships for U.S. graduate students and post-doss, including women, minorities and persons with disabilities. This proposal requests support from the NIH for such fellowships.
