Cell migration is essential for immune surveillance, wound healing, and the development of multicellular organisms. Cancer cells inappropriately engage the migration program to spread throughout the body. The objective of this meeting is to bring together an international group of junior and senior scientists who share an interest in directed cell movement to present their latest discoveries, foster new collaborations, and facilitate new ways of thinking about the process. Our invited speakers are selected from topics ranging from cancer metastasis to leukocyte guidance to embryonic development to neuronal pathfinding to biochemical reconstitutions to wounding and regeneration and will emphasize novel, unpublished results directly related to how cells regulate their movement. Bringing together this diversity of cell types and approaches facilitates the identification of general principles of directed movement beyond the details of the individual systems. Our program of 26 invited speakers includes a mixture of established cell migration labs, rising stars in the field, and experts from other disciplines who have something new to say about the underlying machinery and logic of cell movement. Young investigators will be encouraged to present and discuss their findings at the GRC in a supportive environment through the invitation of 20 additional speakers, selected from submitted abstracts, as well as flash talks and participation in the two poster sessions. In a first for this meeting, the GRC will include a ?Power Hour?, which is an informal gathering open to all participants that is designed to help address the challenges women face in science and support the professional growth of women in our communities by providing an open forum for discussion and mentoring. Throughout the conference, interactions between senior and young investigators will be promoted in both formal and informal settings. To further promote the participation and development of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, the meeting will be preceded by a GRS that is organized by trainees, with 2 invited keynote speakers, 11 trainee talks selected from submitted abstracts, two poster sessions, and an ask-the-PI panel discussion, where we cover the joys and challenges of running an independent research group and field questions from the participants. Not only does the GRS give an opportunity for more trainees to orally present their work and network with one another, but we have found from previous meetings that this activates the trainees to be more involved in the GRC. Due to the central role cell migration plays in many physiological and pathophysiological contexts and because of the wide range of systems covered at this meeting, this conference closely aligns with the missions of several NIH institutes, including NCI, NHLBI, NIAID, NICHD, and NINDS.
The Gordon Research Conference and associated Gordon Research Seminar on Directed Cell Migration, to be held Jan 19-25, 2019 at the Galvez Hotel, Galveston, TX, will delve into all facets of cell migration and bring together scientists who work on migration in a wide diversity of contexts and from scales ranging from biochemical reconstitutions of the migration machinery to single and collective cell migration in vivo. Areas of particular emphasis include immune cell movement, cancer cell movement, and cell migration during embryonic development. We will build on a tradition of probing the most important concepts and challenges at the forefront of cell migration, fostering new interactions, and facilitating new ways of thinking about the process.
