This award will support a "U.S.-Australian Cooperative Workshop: Ions and Water in Biological and Synthetic Membranes" to be held 10-16 August 1991 in Honolulu, Hawaii, and to be organized by Dr. David Deamer of the University of California- Davis and Dr. Bruce Cornell of the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO). Membranes play central roles in cellular processes, parti- cipating in energy transduction reactions, ion and nutrient transport, and homeostatic regulation of the intracellular environment. In order to better understand such processes, it is essential to answer certain fundamental questions about membrane function and structure at the molecular level. Both U.S. and Australia have significant scientific strength in the area of membrane biophysics. However, this expertise has grown up largely in isolation with only occasional interaction between the scientists of these countries in this field. For this reason, this workshop, in addition to promoting exchange of scientific information, has as a primary goal the development of new U.S.-Australian collab- orations to advance understanding of membrane structure and function. Themes of the conference include: molecular structure of membrane proteins and peptides; membrane lipidsand lipid-peptide interactions; and the bioenergetics of ion conductance. Exploration of these research themes has in several cases generated potential applications, particularly in pharmaceutical, biotechnological, diagnostic, and microelectronic industries. While the workshop will focus on furthering improved basic understanding of membrane function and structure at the molecular level, participation will also include experts who are developing commercial applications related to basic research in membrane biophysics.
