The Gordon Research Conference on Cell and Molecular Fungal Biology focuses on the biology of fungi, including but not exclusively filamentous fungi. It brings together established and young researchers, researchers from academia and industry and education, and those who work on fungi that infect people and plants, those that recycle polymers, and those that synthesize biofuels. These eukaryotes serve as models for biology and are socially important as symbionts (mutualists, parasites, and pathogens) and in industry (food, chemical, and pharmaceutical manufacture, including enzymes important for conversion of plant biomass to transportation fuels). Featured topics at this year's conference include symbioses (mutualists and pathogens) and defense from viral and horizontally transferred DNA; areas of new research in fungal small RNA and fungal population genomics; areas of new research in filamentous fungal systems biology; areas of recently revitalized interest, inlcuding fungal conversion of plant biomass; and the core area of filamentous growth and development, that is, cytoskeleton and motors, membrane trafficking, and polarity. This conference is unique among regularly scheduled meetings on filamentous fungi in that it is small, that it emphasizes discussions led by experienced researchers, that it consciously avoids duplication of topics with other meetings, and that it has a large percentage of young scientists making oral presentations to the entire group.
The conference organizers are dedicated to broadening the research community by emphasizing women and members of underrepresented groups in inviting speakers. The small size of the meeting and the emphasis on discussion encourages active participation. Poster sessions are featured without competing events to focus attention on the most junior scientists, who often have the newest data. Shortly before the meeting, one quarter of the speakers will be chosen from those submitting poster abstracts to bring the work of the youngest scientists to the attention of the entire meeting. This conference also is dedicated to research that applies basic knowledge to socially important questions involving filamentous fungi, particularly mutualisms with plants (mycorrhizae), parasitism on plants (plant pathology) and animals (animal pathology), and industrial mycology (enzyme production). The interactions among researchers focused on both basic and socially important research will accelerate research aimed at solving social problems caused by fungi and research aimed at improving social benefits provided by fungi.
The Gordon Research Conference on CELLULAR & MOLECULAR FUNGAL BIOLOGY was held at Holderness School, Holderness New Hampshire, June 17 - 22, 2012. The Conference was well-attended with 136 participants (attendees list attached). The attendees represented the spectrum of endeavor in this field coming from academia, industry, and government laboratories, both U.S. and foreign scientists, senior researchers, young investigators, and students. Of the 136 attendees, 64 voluntarily responded to a general inquiry regarding ethnicity which appears on our registration forms. Of the 64 respondents, 26% were Minorities – 6% Hispanic, 17% Asian and 3% African American. Approximately 48% of the participants at the 2012 meeting were women. In designing the formal speakers program, emphasis was placed on current unpublished research and discussion of the future target areas in this field. There was a conscious effort to stimulate lively discussion about the key issues in the field today. Time for formal presentations was limited in the interest of group discussions. In order that more scientists could communicate their most recent results, poster presentation time was scheduled. Attached is a copy of the formal schedule and speaker program and the poster program. In addition to these formal interactions, "free time" was scheduled to allow informal discussions. Such discussions are fostering new collaborations and joint efforts in the field. Thank you for your support of this Conference. As you know, in the interest of promoting the presentation of unpublished and frontier-breaking research, Gordon Research Conferences does not permit publication of meeting proceedings
