Funds are requested to assist in the support of the 1998 Gordon Research Conference on the Chemical Senses that will be held July 12-17 at Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island. Financial support from the NIDCD will be used to defray partially the travel and meeting costs incurred by the invited speakers, discussion leaders, discussants, and chairpersons. In addition, registration and travel scholarships are requested for young investigators (postdocs and graduate students) with preference given to minority applicants. The meeting will consist of an integrated series of nine focused lecture/discussion sessions and a plenary lecture that, collectively, will address the concept of reconciling data from different levels of analyses. The topics chosen are undergoing rapid technological and/or conceptual growth. All of the invited speakers and discussion leaders are experts in the field of chemoreception or are from ancillary fields. In contrast to other meetings involving researchers of the chemical senses, such as the annual meeting of the Association for Chemoreception Sciences, the upcoming Gordon Research Conference on the Chemical Senses will be restricted in both scope and attendance. This feature along with the unconventional meeting format is designed to promote uninhibited and penetrating discussion and to generate new insights and directions for future research. The need for a specialized national meeting in the Chemical Senses reflects the rapid evolution of knowledge within the field and a corresponding growth in the number of talented researchers devoting themselves to problems of chemosensation.
Our aim i s to have an open forum, offered uniquely by the Gordon Research Conference format, whereby experts in the field can share their most recent finding, thoughts, and speculations. Consequently, this should further both chemosensory research progress and the overall mission of the NIDCD.
