A series of annual Summer Schools on "Cell and Molecular Mechanics in BioMedicine" is proposed under the umbrella of the newly formed international alliance of research and educational institutions: Global Enterprise for Micro-Mechanics and Molecular Medicine (GEM4). A principal objective will be to educate researchers and graduate students on the fundamentals of cell and molecular biomechanics and its applications in medicine, to provide an intense learning experience, and to facilitate interactions among engineers, biologists and clinicians. The broad goals are to help train a new generation of researchers with in-depth knowledge of biomechanics and molecular medicine and to help scientists and clinicians apply biomechanical approaches in biomolecular, cellular, tissue-level, animal-model and clinical studies. The first Summer School will be held in Cambridge, MA, during August 2006 with a focus on infectious diseases. This will be followed by a Summer School in July 2007 in Singapore with a focus on cancer.
