The 2008 Rustbelt RNA Meeting (RRM) will be held October 17-18, 2008, in the Lodge at Deer Creek State Park & Resort in Mt. Sterling, OH. The RRM is the major Midwest regional meeting of RNA researchers. The 2007 RRM was attended by 170 participants including principal investigators (PIs), postdoctoral fellows, graduate, and undergraduate students from both research intensive and primarily undergraduate institutions in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania, as well as farther away (Delaware and New Jersey). Based on attendance in previous years, approximately 170 participants are expected in 2008. The RRM was created in 1999 to address the need of RNA researchers in the Midwest for a regional meeting that includes not only faculty but also postdoctoral fellows and students (trainees). Originally, the venue was chosen to be easily accessible to researchers in an area bounded by Cleveland, Columbus, and Pittsburgh. Due to the success and popularity of the RRM, this area has been broadened to include Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and adjoining states.
The intellectual objective of the RRM is to provide an inexpensive, high caliber, interdisciplinary meeting for RNA researchers in the Midwest. The field of RNA structure, function, and processing is growing at a rapid pace and RNA has been shown to be intimately involved in many important biological phenomena such as carcinogenesis and development, in addition to its obvious prominent role in transcription and translation. At the same time, the methods used to study RNA are becoming more and more diverse ranging from synthetic and physical chemistry over biochemistry, genetics, and biophysical approaches all the way to computational methods. Consequently, research groups need a forum where they can hear and discuss new results and techniques in all areas of RNA research that can result in furthering an individual lab?s aims. The size and organization of the meeting has proven to be an excellent environment for active discussions between research groups, including those between PIs and between PIs and trainees, as well as between trainees themselves. Such interactions are more difficult at larger national meetings.
An important feature of the RRM is its role in the intellectual and professional development of trainee and junior faculty. The RRM encourages participation by graduate and undergraduate students from institutions ranging from large research -intensive universities to small, primarily undergraduate colleges. With its strong emphasis on trainee participation, the RRM is especially helpful in strengthening the speaking and presentation skills of trainees,who account for the vast majority ( ~ 90%) of both poster and oral presentations. In addition, the RRM is an excellent forum for junior PIs to showcase their emerging research programs.
