2019 AUA/SBUR BASIC SCIENCES SYMPOSIUM ?SOCIAL (AND ANTISOCIAL) CELL SIGNALING NETWORKS IN THE URINARY TRACT? PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT This application requests support to convene a half-day symposium during the 2019 Annual Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA), to be held on May 3-6, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. This symposium will continue our highly successful series, the ?Basic Sciences Symposium,? held annually since 2011. The 2019 topic, ?Social (and Antisocial) Cell Signaling Networks in the Urinary Tract,? will feature experts communicating their most recent advances with physicians, physician-scientists, researchers, and others throughout the field. The AUA will co-sponsor this meeting with the Society for Basic Urologic Research (SBUR). Support for this symposium would provide travel awards for approximately 12-14 trainees and early-career investigators. An attendance of 200-300 is anticipated. Six of eight speakers have already agreed to present and discuss topics such as ?Extracellular Matrix-cell Interactions in the Bladder,? ?Cell Types of Development, Homeostasis, and Disease in the Urogenital Tract,? ?Fibrosis in Prostate,? ?Chemokine Biology and Prostatitis,? ?Oxidative Stress and Diabetes: Impact on Bladder and/or Erectile Dysfunction,? and ?Bladder Inflammation and Obstruction,? among others. The PI for this project is: ? Aria F. Olumi, MD, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, AUA Chair of Research (AUA Scientific Lead) The Co-Investigator for this project is: ? Carolyn Best, PhD, AUA Director of Research The Program Planning Committee is comprised of: ? Chair: Simon W. Hayward, PhD, North Shore University ? Rosalyn M. Adam, PhD, Boston Children?s Hospital; William A. Ricke, PhD, University of Wisconsin; and Ganesh Raj, MD, PhD, UT Southwestern Medical Center, President of SBUR (SBUR Scientific Lead) Speakers include: Darius Bagli, MDCM, The Hospital for Sick Children; Chad Vezina, PhD, University of Wisconsin; Douglas Strand, PhD, UT Southwestern; Jill Macoska, PhD, University of Massachusetts; J. Todd Purves, MD, PhD, Duke University; Praveen Thumbikat, PhD, Northwestern University; Johanna Hannan, PhD, East Carolina University. A key emphasis of this conference will be advancing quality science by understanding scientific methodology, study design and application of appropriate research approaches, together with evaluation of creative, high impact scientific investigations worthy of scientific pursuit in the near future. At the same time, the conference will have immediate applicability to benign urinary tract disease research. Early-career investigators building their own independent research programs will comprise a significant proportion of the expected audience, as will trainees. These younger attendees will be able to learn from and interact with world-renowned leaders in the field. A poster exhibit will invite an additional level of scientific discourse and interactions between attendees and invited speakers. This symposium will have a major impact by taking advantage of the largest gathering of urologists and urology researchers in the world to convey important research advancements and bring young investigators into this important and fundamental field.
2019 AUA/SBUR BASIC SCIENCES SYMPOSIUM ?SOCIAL (AND ANTISOCIAL) CELL SIGNALING NETWORKS IN THE URINARY TRACT? PROJECT NARRATIVE/PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE STATEMENT Diseases of the urinary and urogenital tract are a major source of morbidity and mortality, as well as a major drain on healthcare resources, and interactions between and within the different cell populations making up tissues and organs are important contributors to the normal development and function of these organs. Disruption of these signaling networks contributes to both benign and malignant disease processes and dysregulated signaling pathways potentially provide novel targets for therapeutic interventions. The 2019 AUA/SBUR Basic Sciences Symposium will be focused on these cell signaling networks in the urinary tract, with the first session examining the cell types present in organs of the urogenital tract, current techniques and developments for examining these and the discovery of new subpopulations that has emerged from these applications; the second session looking at the consequences of intercellular signaling in disease processes, particularly in relation to the consequences of inflammatory processes in pathogenesis; and a final session enabling trainees and early-career investigators to present their work and network to obtain feedback and explore potential collaboration that could build their research in benign urologic disease.
