Funds are requested to support conference fees and/or travel costs of participants to the Metals in Biology Gordon Research Conferences (MIB-GRC) and Graduate Research Seminars (GRS) to be held in January 2005, 2006 and 2007, at the Sheraton Four Points Harbortown Hotel, Ventura, CA. The MIB-GRC is generally considered to be the premiere small meeting covering the fields of metallobiochemistry and bioinorganic chemistry. Since 1962, these meetings have been a regular forum for the presentation and discussion of forefront research covering all aspects of the roles of metal ions in biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology and medicine. The popularity of this meeting led to a change from biennial to an annual calendar starting in January 1987. However, the conference remains greatly oversubscribed, severely curtailing the number of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in attendance. As a result, in 1996, the Metals in Biology Graduate Research Seminar in Bioinorganic Chemistry was established. This conference is devoted to graduate students and postdoctorals in the field, who come together to present lectures and scientific poster presentations in a three-day meeting. The two meetings overlap for Thursday afternoon and evening including a joint poster session with presentations from the GRS attendees, dinner, and a keynote lecturer from the MIB-GRC (for 2005 Joann Stubbe is being invited). The topics to be emphasized for the 2005 MIB-GRC conference include: (1) Synthetic Analogues; (2) Non-Heme Iron; (3) Novel Intermediates in Metalloenzymes; (4) Cytochrome c Oxidase; (5) New Spectroscopic Methods; (6) Copper Enzymes; and (7) Metals, DNA and Medicine. The program for the 2005 GRS will include sessions on: (1) Metalloproteins (Structure and Function); (2) Metal Uptake and Regulation; (3) Biomimetic Inorganic Chemistry; (4) Environmental/Medical Bioinorganic Chemistry; and (5) Physical Methods in Bioinorganic Chemistry. By facilitating the many interdisciplinary interactions that occur in this field, the conference plays a key role in encouraging new enterprises in biomedical research. To ensure strong programs, it is important that the cost of participating in the conference not be an impediment to the attendance of the invited speakers and discussion chairs.
