This proposal requests funding for partial support for a meeting on Lysosomes and Endocytosis as part of the Gordon Research Conference (GRC) series to be held in Proctor Academy, Andover, NH from June 12th-17th 2016. We also request funding for the associated Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) for 40-50 graduate student and post-doctoral trainees immediately preceding the Conference. The Lysosomes and Endocytosis GRC has a tradition of over forty-five years as a key international venue for presentation of cutting edge research in the area of membrane traffic in the endocytic pathway and lysosome biology. This conference, which has been constantly evolving to meet the rapid advancements in the field, is a key venue to discuss recent progresses in new areas which bridge endocytic and lysosomal pathways to development, cytokinesis, signaling, innate and adaptive immunity, and metabolism. Moreover, a significant part of this meeting is devoted to the dysregulation of these pathways or their subversion by pathogens, which lead to various pathologies including cancer, metabolic and genetic diseases, neurodegeneration, and immuno-deficiencies. Through high quality formal presentations and rigorous poster sessions, the Lysosomes and Endocytosis GRC will highlight these areas, disseminate new methods and approaches, and foster the development of new hypotheses, research directions, and collaborations. The GRC will have less than 200 participants, including at least 40 speakers and 16 discussion leaders representing critical areas in research in endocytosis and lysosome biology, and a keynote speaker with a long history of contributions to the field. The program for 2016 will focus on the molecular underpinnings of the endocytic pathway, the role of endosomes and lysosomes in cancer, genetic diseases, host-pathogen interactions, signaling, and metabolism. Ten speakers will be selected from abstracts submitted, with one entire session devoted to discussion of new directions. In addition, two poster sessions - each spanning two evenings - will permit all participants to contribute to these topics. The Lysosomes and Endocytosis GRC represents a highly significant investment for the NCI, and in addition will include topics that are vital to NINDS, NIDDK, NIAID, ORDR-NCATS as well as other institutes within the NIH. The requested funds will be used to support travel and registration fees for of participants including, but not limited to, women and other minorities as well as postdoctoral fellows and graduate students. Funds are also requested to support invitees to the associated GRS, in which trainees will be provided with background material and will be encouraged to present their data to each other to build presentation and networking skills.
The Gordon Research Conference and Gordon Research Seminar on Lysosomes and Endocytosis explore fundamental cellular pathways that underlie normal human physiology, disease, nervous system function and host defense. These pathways control susceptibility to and defense against infectious disease, cellular digestive pathways that malfunction in genetic, neurodegenerative and nutritional metabolic diseases, growth control pathways related to cancer, and cell interaction pathways required for proper development. The conferences bring together top researchers in the field to discuss their latest and most important research findings, welcome students and investigators who are new to the research topic, and thereby advance public health by exchanging fresh ideas, establishing new collaborations, and driving future research areas.
