? This grant application requests partial support for a Symposium, entitled """"""""PXE Research 2004"""""""". The meeting will be held October 13 and 14, 2004 at the Pooks Hill Marriott, Bethesda, MD, a handicapped accessible hotel. The meeting is coordinated and co-sponsored by PXE International, a nonprofit foundation, established in 1995, to advance research on pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE). This symposium will capitalize on significant progress made in basic understanding of the genetics of PXE and the structural components affected by PXE since the last research meeting in 1997. Though these advances are significant, they have highlighted a lack of linkage between the basic genetic and molecular advances and the pathogenesis of this disease. This meeting will review progress in genetics, cellular and molecular biology, catalyze the current research through knowledge and tools of related research, provide the foundation for a comprehensive research plan and determine best practices for clinical care of individuals affected by PXE. The overall goal of the Symposium is to provide a forum for investigators to discuss relevant advances in transporter biology, metabolism, genetics, and epidemiology and for clinically oriented colleagues and PXE International to jointly plan for future research and translational applications. The audience is expected to represent a broad spectrum of individuals with varying expertise including practicing clinicians caring for patients with PXE, physician-scientists and basic science investigators and lay leaders, all of whom share an interest in PXE.
The specific aim of this Symposium is to provide a forum for a cross-fertilization of ideas between the basic and clinical sciences that may not be achievable in more general meetings, and that is essential to translational research. The presence of clinical investigators from the disciplines of dermatology, ophthalmology, gastroenterology and cardiology will allow broad-based discussion of PXE with its many systemic effects, to inform the basic science to focus it, and conversely to set best practice standards for data collectiton and clinical care. Special attention is paid to the involvement of young investigators and trainees in this meeting, and involving both scientists and clincians from underrepresented communities. ? ?
