This application is to request financial assistance for the 14th Annual Meeting of the Society for Basic Urologic Research (SBUR) to be held in Savannah, Georgia from December 9th to 12th, 2004. The objective of SBUR is to generate scientific interactions among researchers and clinicians involved in urologic research. As part of this goal, SBUR has been organizing Annual Meetings in Fall since 1992. The success of these meetings is confirmed by the steady increase in the number of participants from USA and Europe. In addition to inviting eminent scientists to present talks, for the last several years, SBUR has served as an informal setting for attracting researchers such as students and post-doctoral fellows. This has enabled junior researchers to interact with their senior counterparts resulting in collaborations, joint publications and job opportunities. The theme of the meeting in 2004 is """"""""Signaling Mechanisms in Cell Proliferation and Death."""""""" Understanding the intricacies of signaling pathways is critical to biomedical researchers engaged in aging, cancer and therapeutic research. Compared to other fields, relatively less is known about the role of signaling mechanisms in urologic disorders. Therefore, this conference will provide a review of current knowledge in the field, trace the changes from embryonic to the aging adult stage, and address variations in urologic disorders. The conference is divided into five sessions to discuss the pathways involved in proliferation, death, and the influence of modulating factors such as hormones and growth factors on these mechanisms. To a great extent, these talks will focus on urologic cancers (prostate and bladder); however, as some speakers are not involved in urologic research, they will address other disorders and cancers. Poster sessions intended to provide a forum for trainees to present their research will be designed to encourage interaction between the poster presenters and the audience. Travel awards will be presented to trainees, and best three awardees will be invited to discuss their research in podium presentations.
