Funds are requested for partial support of the 2009 Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Red Cells, the next in a series of meetings that have been held every other year since 1979. This conference assembles the top established and the most promising new investigators who are working on all aspects of erythroid cells, from the developmental/environmental control of its ontogeny, to cellular and morphogenic aspects related to its unique membrane structure, to transcriptional/epigenetic regulation of its gene expression, to disorders that follow from variations in these normal processes. By focusing on these topics, the Red Cells GRC continues to be the primary venue for presentation of the latest cutting edge basic and methodological research that it has exhibited throughout its history and for which it has become famous. The meeting attracts an international coterie of researchers and provides a lively forum for active participation and discussion within intimate surroundings that makes interactions easy between senior and junior investigators, and between investigators that normally may not readily interact. The meeting will be held on June 28-July 3, 2009 at the University of New England, Maine, and will convene ~50 speakers with a total of ~140 participants. The conference aims to be inclusive for women, minorities, and persons with disabilities;importantly, many of the participants will include postdoctoral fellows and graduate students in addition to investigators who are early in their academic careers. By the nature of its subject matter, the Red Cells GRC remains fully relevant to enhancing the understanding of both the normal progression of erythroid cell maturation and the alterations that lead to its pathology.
Defects in red blood cell formation and function can lead to anemias that range from mild to life- threatening. The 2009 Red Cells Gordon Research Conference is the primary means for investigators in the field to present their most recent findings, exchange ideas, and discuss future directions for investigating and understanding normal and aberrant modes of the erythroid cell.
