The Gordon Conference in Neural Development has become a key meeting in the larger field of neuroscience. From its inception in 1981, this biannual meeting has attracted superb speakers, excellent students, postdoctoral fellows, and a wide range of active scientists from junior faculty to senior leaders in the field. Sessions featured in this year's meeting include: stem cells, neural induction, transcriptional control and various aspects of axon guidance and synaptogenesis. Studies from both model invertebrate and vertebrate systems will be presented. A range of speakers, nearly half of whom are women, has been selected from senior to junior faculty, and an additional section for late-breaking news has been introduced into the meeting to identify new and exciting directions that become apparent over the next year. Several of the speakers work in areas of direct clinical relevance, including studies on stem cells, regeneration, and the genetics of human cortical malformations. Speakers will be given 45-50 minutes for their presentations, of which one third will be devoted to discussion. Afternoons will be open for informal interactions. Poster sessions will be scheduled for afternoons and will remain posted during the social periods following the evening presentations. Participants will be encouraged to present posters, which serves as an excellent training and scientific function.
