We seek support for the Gordon Research Conference on Liquid Crystals (GRCLC) scheduled for June 19-24, 2005, at Colby-Sawyer College, New London, New Hampshire. In general, the Gordon Research Conferences provide an international forum for the presentation and discussion of frontier research in the biological, chemical, and physical sciences, and their related technologies. This particular GRCLC will offer an opportunity for scientists, technologists and educators from academia, government and industry to meet and discuss the most recent advances in the field of liquid crystals science, such as (a) Chemical synthesis and physical properties of new liquid crystalline materials and systems of biological and medical relevance (liquid crystalline elastomeres, actuators and artificial muscles, lyotropic chromonic liquid crystals), (b) liquid crystals and biological applications, sensors and drug delivery vehicles; (c) defect structures and morphogenesis of patterns in static and dynamic processes; (d) optics and photonics of liquid crystals, including liquid crystal lasers, tunable band gap materials, beam steering devices and flexible displays; (e) theory and modeling of liquid crystals; (f) new experimental techniques on characterizing soft materials with orientational order such as three dimensional fluorescence confocal polarizing microscopy. Many of the topics above, especially liquid crystal-based biological sensing of pathogens, imaging of three-dimensional orientationally ordered structures, liquid crystalline order in biological functioning and morphogenesis, drug delivery, actuators, etc., directly relate the field of the liquid crystal research to the health issues. For example, the inexpensive biosensors based on lyotropic liquid crystals can detect the presence of pathogens such as Anthrax within a few minutes instead of many hours. Moreover, participation of researchers with a non-medical and non-biological background (electrooptics and displays) will increase the level of understanding of health-related problems among the """"""""non-traditional"""""""" research groups that might strongly contribute to the overall NIH mission in the future. GRCLC will provide a forum for career networking and career advancement; it will be open to the worldwide scientific community and every effort will be made to achieve an appropriate representation of women, minorities and persons with disabilities, and other individuals who have been traditionally under-represented in science.
