The tenth International Conference on Raman Spectroscopy will be held at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon from August 31 through September 5, 1986. Support is requested for this meeting from the National Institutes of Health because of the significant component of biophysical studies and biomedical applications that will be included in the program of this meeting. The NIH funds will be used primarily for partial travel support for foreign speakers in this area, for partial support of junior U.S. investigators and for part of the secretarial cost associated with publication of the conference proceedings. The specific areas dealing with biophysical or biomedical issues that probably will be represented in this International meeting include: (1) resonance Raman studies of proteins and nucleic acids using ultraviolet laser radiation; (2) conventional Raman scattering of enzyme/substrate interactions, protein secondary structure, lipid bilayer phase behavior and lipid protein interactions, viral structure, nucleic acid structural changes and DNA/protein interactions; (3) resonance Raman studies, including those with time resolution, of the structure and mechanism of heme proteins and visual and photosynthetic pigments; (4) biomedical applications to visual disorders especially cataract formation, chromosome structure, gallstone structure, blood coagulation, and lung tissue structure. The use of Raman microprobe techniques in pathology and other areas will also be discussed. It should be noted that this is a tentative list of topics; emphasis will be placed on very recent advances.
