We request partial support for the 2020 Society for Research on Biological Rhythms Meeting, to be held at the Omni Amelia Island Plantation Resort, in Florida, from May 30 to June 3, 2020. The conference, which attracts more than 700 attendees, will focus on several topics that represent key research areas in the field of chronobiology, including molecular biology, genetics, cell biology, neurobiology, physiology, metabolism, cancer, aging, infectious disease, immunology, behavior, sleep, mathematical modeling, environmental science and drug development. The theme of the meeting will be ?Rhythms in the Real World.? This theme reflects the extent to which biological rhythmicity affects all aspects of life in all organisms living in their natural environment. The meeting will feature 19 symposia of invited speakers, 16 slide sessions with short talks, and ~350 posters that combine the best of basic clock research with research that translates this information into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease. The symposium speakers and session chairs are recognized leaders in their fields, and were chosen to represent our the breadth of the field and realize our goal of bridging basic and applied circadian clock research. Slide session speaker include a majority of trainees (postdocs or graduate students). Large efforts are being made to recruit scientists from other fields, not usually attending SRBR, as speakers. Special attention has been given to cultural and geographical diversity as well as gender balance.
We aim to attract scientists from diverse backgrounds through targeted advertisement and, with NIH support, to offer travel fellowships to trainees, prioritizing those from under- represented groups. Various new and previously successful communication initiatives will ensure a broader dissemination of knowledge. Training aspects of the meeting are fully developed, and include a highly subscribed, free, one-day Trainee Professional Development Day, Junior Faculty Workshops, and a Mentoring Program. Finally, the new 2020 Chronobiology School, directed to graduate students and postdocs new to the field, will be offered.
The regulation of physiological and behavioral processes by biological clocks is critical for both physical and mental health. Disruption of the timing of these clocks leads to disease and, on the other hand, the diagnosis and treatment of specific ailments is influenced by biological clocks. The 2020 Society for Research on Biological rhythms Meeting will bring together scientists of various fields, different generations of researchers, and various end users and target audiences together with the goal of: (a) training the next generation of researchers in the field of biological clocks and rhythms; (b) sharing the latest findings in this field and (c) sharing them with the broad public.
