This award is in support of a Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on "Biomolecular Interactions and Methods" (BIM) will be held on January 15th - 20th, 2012 at the historic Hotel Galvez in Galveston, Texas. In addition, the second associated Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) will be held at the same location on the preceding weekend (January 14th - 15th, 2012). The 2012 GRC/GRS will provide an international forum for information exchange that will incorporate a broad array of both experimental and theoretical approaches and catalyze new connections between the atomic and cellular levels, enhancing our understanding of how intact biological systems carry out their complex functions through tightly regulated interactions. The GRS is specifically designed to encourage and enrich young scientists. This meeting will provide a unique opportunity for a diverse group of scientists to share their ideas and discuss the latest research that underpins biological interactions, from atoms to organisms, to push the frontiers of quantitative biological research.
Intellectual merit: Dynamic interactions between biological molecules underlie the cellular processes that govern all living organisms. While molecular biology and genetics approaches identify key players in a given biological process, the detailed characterization of these players and the timing of their interactions is required to develop an in-depth understanding of their functional roles in the cell. Current methods are now capable of providing a time-resolved view of isolated biological interactions. Moreover, theoretical frameworks have been established to model not only specific molecular recognition events, but also systems of interacting molecules, bringing us tantalizingly closer to the prediction of cellular outcomes. This meeting will gather together a highly interdisciplinary group of scientists, with expertise ranging from computer simulation to experiments including single molecules, biochemistry, biophysics, live cell imaging and studies of intact systems, in order to define the frontier of research to predict how events at the individual molecule level must be correlated to overall cellular processes.
Broader Impact. The GRC organization has a strong commitment to supporting diversity in the sciences. For the 2012 GRC BIM, 50% of the formal leadership roles are being held by women: two of the four meeting organizers, four of the eight Discussion Leaders, and one of the two GRS /GRC keynote speakers are women. We have identified one Hispanic scientist (Bertrand Garcia-Moreno, Johns Hopkins U.) and one African American scientist (Paul Adams, U. Arkansas) as speakers. Of the proposed additional GRC speakers, 25% are women and 7% are underrepresented minority scientists, for a total of anticipated participation of women and minorities as highly visible speakers at this meeting. The GRS is organized by and for graduate students and postdocs, and is dedicated to the training and mentoring of these young scientists. The GRC and GRS planned programs are highly interdisciplinary, with a key objective of fostering exchange of concepts and ideas across diverse areas of science to break down barriers and generate novel directions of investigation. This conference and seminar are supported by the Biomolecular Dynamics, Structure and Function Cluster, in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, in the Directorate for Biological Sciences.
The Gordon Research Conference on BIOMOLECULAR INTERACTIONS & METHODS was held at the Hotel Galvez, Galveston, Texas, January15 – 20, 2012. The Conference was well-attended with 88 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 88 attendees, 48 voluntarily responded to a general inquiry regarding ethnicity which appears on our registration forms. Of the 48 respondents, 17% were Minorities – 2% Hispanic, 10% Asian and 4% African American. Approximately 41% of the participants at the 2012 meeting were women. The Gordon Research Seminar on BIOMOLECULAR INTERACTIONS & METHODS was held at the Hotel Galvez, Galveston, Texas, January14 – 15, 2012. The Conference was well-attended with 31 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 31 attendees, 21 voluntarily responded to a general inquiry regarding ethnicity which appears on our registration forms. Of the 48 respondents, 3% were Minorities – 0% Hispanic, 3% Asian and 0% African American. Approximately 55% 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. If you wish any further details, please feel free to contact me.
