Calcium signals are probably the most ubiquitous signal transduction mediators that impact on almost every disease related signaling process, and the calcium associated research field has been highly interdisciplinary, connecting researchers from many NIH institutes. Our conference does therefore not have a specific home institute at the NIH but relied in the past on funding from different institutes. Calcium signaling research has been for many years the driving force for many new biological discoveries and technical developments and had a marked impact on most fields of biomedical research. The FASEB meeting on Calcium and Cell Function is held every two years and is the premier research conference in this field, bringing together researchers that work on the regulation of calcium signals with researchers interested in calcium's role in different cell functions. Following the spirit of a long list of highly successful and well attended FASEB Calcium and Cell Function meetings in the past, we have put together a conference that should again draw researchers from different research disciplines and countries, generate intense discussions, and facilitate new contacts and collaborations in this exciting and rapidly developing field.
