Research on renal function and renal disease has not taken full advantage of new basic techniques. Specifically, medical university-based nephrology divisions have not taken full advantage of newer cell and molecular biology. As a result, the International Society of Nephrology is organizing a series of meetings to stimulate the application of basic research techniques to the study of normal and abnormal renal function. To accomplish this, the first meeting, entitled """"""""Molecular Biology and the Kidney"""""""", will bring together leading basic researchers with established investigative nephrologists and with a group of young and promising investigators interested in the kidney. The goal of this meeting is to expose the nephrology community to specific types of research that have been successful in answering important basic questions. These new techniques in research should hopefully be applicable to questions in renal research that are as yet unaswered. The format of this meeting includes an introductory lecture by Nobel Laureate Dr. George Palade entitled """"""""Control of Protein in Membrane Traffic in Eukaryotic Cells"""""""". Following this, there will be 3 days of meetings with 2 sessions per day. The first session will address hormone receptors and signal generation and will include 3 speakers. The second session is entitled """"""""Mechanisms of Hormone Action"""""""" and will also include 3 speakers. The third and fourth sessions are entitled """"""""Molecular Biology of Transport Proteins"""""""". Session 3 will have 3 speakers and Session 4 will have 2 speakers. The fifth session is entitled """"""""Receptor-Mediated Endocytosis"""""""" and will include 2 speakers. Finally, the sixth session is called """"""""Membrane Trafficking and Targeting"""""""" and will include 2 speakers. Each speaker will make a 45-minute presentation to be followed by a 45-minute discussion period. The discussions will be led by an established academic nephrologist who has become familiar with his speaker's area of expertise and who will organize the discussion so that the speaker's message can be integrated into the general field of nephrology research. It is hoped that this meeting will not only increase awareness of the nephrology community with respect to basic research, but will also provide specific directions utilizing approaches that have proven successful in non-renal research. It should be noted that the 16 oral presentations by the invited speakers, as well as the entire discussion, will appear as a special issue of the journal Kidney International.
