Ion transporting proteins including ion channels represent approximately 1% of all human genes and are targets for a large fraction of drugs used in the treatment of common neurological, cardiovascular and other disorders. Research into the physiological regulation of ion channels has contributed greatly to understanding how channel function and dysfunction underlie human health and disease. Ion channels are regulated by circulating hormones, growth factors, as well as transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms that are shared with other cellular processes and can be altered in many disease states. The field of ion channel regulation provides outstanding opportunities for collaboration, cross discipline interaction among scientists and interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research training. This is an application for partial support of the 5th biennial FASEB Summer Research Conference on Ion Channel Regulation. The conference will be held June 12-17, 2011 at the Steamboat Grand Hotel in Steamboat Springs, CO. Funds from this grant will be used exclusively to support registration fees, lodging, meals and travel to the conference for 20 trainees (graduate students, postdoctoral fellows). This meeting is designed to highlight the latest discoveries related to ion channel regulation and introduce novel conceptual and technological approaches. The goal of the meeting is to promote new collaborations and directions for research on channel regulation and to foster the development of junior investigators by offering them the chance to learn from, and develop relationships with, leading researchers in the field. This conference has previously fostered new cross-discipline collaborations among scientific groups and has stimulated more rapid advances because of synergistic interactions that occurred during and after the meeting. The Co-chairs of the 2011 conference will be Dr. Alfred L. George, Jr. (Vanderbilt University) and Dr. Annette Dolphin (University College London), both recognized leaders in ion channel biology. The Program consists of 9 sessions and one keynote address. Most sessions were organized by general themes rather than a type of ion channel so that presentations will span traditional boundaries. Several of the planned presentations emphasize research into the molecular and cellular basis of rare diseases (channelopathies). There will be invited 35 speakers including 15 women (43% of speakers;5 of 9 session chairs are also women), 7 early career stage investigators and 3 members of groups underrepresented in science. Eight short talks will be selected from submitted abstracts for presentation at the meeting and an effort will be made to have a balance of women, young investigators and members of underrepresented groups participate. The conference venue has appropriate facilities for disabled attendees and resources for family care.
The physiological movement of ions into and out of cells provides living organisms with the means to generate the biological electricity necessary for nerve, muscle and heart function. Ion channels are proteins that mediate ion flow and many important physiological processes regulate the activity of ion channels. Many diseases can be explained by ion channel dysfunction and a large number of drugs target these proteins for use in treating many neurological, cardiovascular and other disorders. This grant will provide financial support for a conference that brings together scientists from several different fields to share the latest discoveries related to ion channel regulation in the context of health and disease.
Discl aim er: Please note that the following critiques were prepared by the reviewers prior to the Study Section meeting and are provided in an essentially unedited form. While there is opportunity for the reviewers to update or revise their written evaluation, based upon the group's discussion, there is no guarantee that individual critiques have been updated subsequent to the discussion at the meeting. Therefore, the critiques may not fully reflect the final opinions of the individual reviewers at the close of group discussion or the final majority opinion of the group. Thus the Resume and Summary of Discussion is the final word on what the reviewers actually considered critical at the meeting.
