The third biannual Gordon Research Conference on Vitamin B12 and Corphins will be held July 1-6 , 2007, at the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine. This conference is a multidisciplinary meeting that alternates between a European site (Oxford in 2005) and the Maine site in the United States, reflecting the sizeable communities in the field of vitamin B12 on both continents. The Chair of the 2006 meeting is Wilfred van der Donk, Lycan Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, with the vice- Chair being Bernhard Kraeutler from the Leopold-Franzens Universitaet Innsbruck, Austria.
The aims for the 2007 meeting are: 1. To feature a group of scientists from widely different fields including epidemiology, genetics, biochemistry, microbiology, chemistry, and physics that all work at the forefront of research on vitamin B12. The topics presented will vary from disease models, nutrition, and B12 uptake and transport to mechanisms of enzyme catalysis, diagnostics, and biosynthesis. 2. To organize an exciting and stimulating conference in which the members of the different communities actively participate, discuss the latest developments and most importantly, share insights obtained from diverse viewpoints and backgrounds. The increased multidisciplinary interactions are also intended to promote collaborations. 3. To ensure a continuing influx of new ideas and investigators. To achieve this, the speakers list has been made up almost entirely of speakers that have not spoken before and several junior scientists, in particular postdocs, have been identified that will present on their work.
