The overarching mission of the conference series is to foster the exchange and translation of scientific information relevant to the utility of pigs as translational models for the elucidation of human disease mechanisms and for the development and validation of clinically-relevant therapies and medical devices. The Swine in Biomedical Research Conference 2020 will be held at the University of Wisconsin Memorial Union, Madison, Wisconsin, July 18?21, 2020. The location, with its current level of biomedical research, provides a thematic backdrop and the collaborative network for reaching out to and attracting broader demographics of attendees, including many of those affiliated with the biomedical industry.
The specific aims of this conference are to: (1) engage clinician researchers and biomedical scientists, (2) identify unmet clinical needs or existing gaps in research that require innovative swine models, and (3) increase diversity and ensure continued growth of the biomedical swine research community. A central goal of the planning is to increase inclusion of nationally underrepresented groups (esp. women and minorities) and to encourage participation of trainees (graduate students and postdocs) and early-stage researchers. The outcomes of the conference will be: (a) a white paper to assess the current state of the biomedical swine research field and identify needs or demands for biomedical swine models, swine research facilities, resources and expertise in the United States, and (b) a report summarizing results of meeting surveys to assess success of the conference (including number of researchers newly introduced to biomedical swine models, number of new collaborations facilitated by the conference) and areas for future growth (including potential new programs to engage underrepresented groups).
The overwhelming biological similarities between pigs and humans, and the recent development of efficient genome editing tools, such as the CRISPR/Cas9 platform, has increased the utility of pigs as translational models for the elucidation of human disease mechanisms and for the development and validation of clinically-relevant therapies and medical devices. This application requests partial support for the Swine in Biomedical Research Conference 2020 (7th in the conference series) to be held at the University of Wisconsin Memorial Union, Madison, Wisconsin, July 18?21. The conference aims to engage human medical scientist/clinicians and veterinarian researchers/animal scientists to identify unmet clinical needs and existing gaps in research that require innovative swine models and to foster new interdisciplinary collaborations.
