An international conference on "Calcium and Cell Function" will be held July 9-14, 2000 at Copper Mountain, Colorado, under the auspices of the Federation of the American Societies of Experimental Biology (FASEB). The conference will focus on recent advances in the molecular biology of intracellular calcium regulation and the numerous roles of calcium ions in regulation of cell function. The topics to be covered are: molecular biology of calcium entry and intracellular stores; regulation of intracellular calcium dynamics; decoding of calcium signals; calcium function in the nucleus, in mitochondria, and in membrane traffic; and the physiology and pathology of multicellular calcium signaling. The overall goal is to bring together a diverse group of scientists working on all phases of calcium and its role in cell function in an atmosphere conducive to informal exchange of ideas. The format of this conference will be similar to that of previous FASEB Summer Research Conferences. There will be a total of 8 morning and evening sessions of 3-4 speakers each and 1 keynote lecture. Afternoons are free to encourage informal interactions between invited speakers and participants. Poster presentations are an important part of such interactions and four 2-hour sessions are reserved for poster discussion. In addition, to enhance participation by junior attendees, time has been set aside for 4 short talks based on the best posters submitted. This is the major long-standing conference in North America that focuses entirely on calcium and covers the spectrum of calcium research rather than a single subdiscipline. Conferences are held every two years. Particular effort has been made to minimize overlap in topics and speakers with other calcium-related meetings such as the Gordon Conference on Calcium Signaling and the International Symposium on Calcium-Binding Proteins and Calcium Function in Health and Disease, both held in alternating, odd-numbered years. The FASEB conference is always oversubscribed and has received high ratings from previous participants.
