Genomic instability is a key event in aging, cancer, and genetic disease, and highly conserved pathways have evolved to maintain genomic stability by repairing damaged DNA. This meeting will explore recent advances in understanding the nature and causes of genomic instability, the mechanisms of normal DNA repair, and the consequences of failure in DNA repair to human health and disease. The goals of this meeting are to identify new avenues of investigation, to define therapeutic strategies for maintenance of genomic integrity, to stimulate collaborations, and to foster the long-term development of this critical research area. The program will specifically focus on advances that provide mechanistic understanding of pathways that maintain integrity of the human genomic, with emphasis on how these pathways intersect normal cellular development, aging, and programmed differentiation. The molecular and mechanistic emphasis on pathways critical for genomic stability in a variety of biological contexts is designed to attract a unique audience of researchers at this interface.
