This proposal is to request support for a Keystone Symposia meeting entitled """"""""Biomarker Discovery, Validation and Applications"""""""", organized by Mark Boguski and Jean-Jacques Garaud, which will be held in Tahoe City, California from February 3 - 8, 2008. Conceptually, biomarkers are emerging as a new organizing principle for translational research involving multidisciplinary and parallel activities in basic research, technology development and clinical application. The primary reason for this is that the concept encompasses a broad swath of potential roles in human disease including prevention, diagnosis, prognosis, patient stratification and the pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic properties of drugs as well as their efficacies and toxicities. This meeting attempts to bring together scientists, technologists and research physicians to focus attention on key challenges and highlight synergies among groups working in different but overlapping areas. The meeting will address major trends in the field from macromolecular analytics to clinical imaging and overall strategies for biomarker development and applications. ? ? ? ?
