COMS

The 21st century presents global challenges in the environment, resources, energy, health, and sustainability. The Institute of Biological Engineering supports the community of scientists and engineers that are addressing these problems through biological systems analysis and design. We do this through enhancing and promoting biological engineering in the broadest manner through research, education, and professional development.

The emerging discipline of biological engineering lies at the interfaces of biological sciences, engineering sciences, mathematics and computational sciences. It applies biological systems to enhance of the quality and diversity of life.

The aim of the meeting is to bring together scientists from a variety of disciplines in order to define the current state of this dynamic field and to discuss and set future research agendas. This GRC conference offers the unique opportunity for junior investigators and graduate students to get together and exchange ideas with leaders in the field in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere at the Salve Regina University Campus, Newport. Some submitted abstracts will be selected for short talks. Students and post-docs are strongly encouraged to apply. We are making a special effort to obtain funds to provide individuals from endemic countries with travel awards.

The conference will take place in a rural and collegial setting, with a schedule designed to stimulate facilitate discussion, both during and after the formal presentations. There will be ample opportunity for informal conversations and brainstorming sessions during the free afternoons and at shared meals. All attendees, including invited speakers, are urged to stay for the duration of the meeting. Junior investigators are also invited to gather for a smaller Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) preceding the GRC, where ~40 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows will exchange ideas with each other and with a small number of senior investigators who will be available for scientific feedback and career advice. Together, the Auditory System GRC and GRS will provide a superb environment for participants to establish new collaborations and learn how their own work intersects with contemporary research in the hearing sciences.

Analyses of gene expression during senescence mainly performed on the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana revealed a massive reprogramming of gene expression indicating chromatin remodelling and epigenetic control. Similar higher order regulatory processes have been associated with genes influencing postharvest processes such as fruit ripening and likely figure prominently in postharvest activities. This conference will include sessions highlighting recent advances in senescence and post-harvest biology including environmental effects. A major focus will be on higher order regulation of senescence and postharvest processes involving genetic and epigenetic factors (chromatin remodelling, methylation and miRNAs). The meeting will integrate high order regulation of senescence and postharvest biology with approaches aimed to elucidate the function of associated gene products using the methodologies of various disciplines such as cell biology, biochemistry, physiology genetics and genomics where systems approaches will be emphasized.

Our goal is to bring together researchers and students of diverse disciplines to promote an integrated understanding of these important processes intimately associated with crop quality and productivity so as to enhance our understanding of plant senescence and postharvest biology and to provide information for crop scientists to develop improved varieties and postharvest procedures.

As initiated in 2010, the main Conference in 2012 will be preceded by a weekend meeting planned by and for pre-doctoral and post-doctoral trainees.

The 2012 Gordon Research Conference on Diffraction Methods in Structural Biology will focus on the most recent developments in methodology, covering all aspects of the experiment from crystallization to data collection, processing and structure refinement and validation; the conference will also cover the progress in the development of the next generation of sources available for structural biology of the latest x-ray sources developed for x-ray diffraction, as well as examples of the application of complementary methods and examples of structural highlights. Extensive discussion by all participants will be encouraged, both at the talk and poster sessions. As in past meetings, participants presenting posters will be eligible to give an oral presentation of their work in a dedicated session.

The relatively small size and informal and friendly atmosphere of the meeting provides an excellent opportunity for all participants, especially younger scientists, to meet and exchange ideas with leading methods developers.

The meeting will convene approximately 45 speakers representing key areas of post-transcriptional gene regulation, with a total of 150-180 participants. The program will consist of nine morning or evening sessions that will broadly address cutting-edge issues in the following areas: Nuclear RNA Metabolism: The Transcription Connection; Bioinformatics: Gene Expression and RNAomics, including the evolution of RNA-processing signals and factors; RNA Splicing Catalysis, Regulation and Fidelity; Non-coding RNAs; RNA Transport and Localization; RNA Turnover, including nonsense-mediated mRNA decay and other types of quality control; Translational Control; RNA and RNP Structure; and RNA-processing Dysfunctions in Disease. Short talks will be chosen from abstract submissions. In addition, small (<50 posters) poster sessions on four late afternoons will enable all participants to contribute to, and learn about, the above-mentioned topics. Free early-afternoon and late-evening periods, and meal times, will also stimulate discussion. While the quality of science will be high, the atmosphere is aimed to be relaxed and interactive. Four poster prizes will be awarded: two to graduate students, and two to post-docs.

Early efforts of the single molecule community were almost entirely focused on developing new techniques. Now, and in large part due to this conference, single molecule techniques are rapidly occupying a central role in biological research at all levels. This transition was made possible by the availability and dissemination of robust techniques that use fluorescence and force probes to track the conformation of molecules one at a time, in vitro as well as in live cells. Single-molecule approaches have changed the way many biological problems are studied. These novel techniques provide previously unobtainable data on fundamental biochemical processes that are essential for all forms of life. The ability of single-molecule approaches to avoid ensemble averaging and to capture transient intermediates and heterogeneous behavior renders them particularly powerful in elucidating mechanisms of the molecular systems that underpin the functioning of living cells. Hence, our conference seeks to disseminate the implementation and use of single molecule techniques in the pursuit of new biological knowledge. In addition, the conference provides for a modern training ground for young scientists that wish to learn how to conduct interdisciplinary research.

The American Society for Virology (ASV) was founded in 1981 to provide a forum for investigators of human, animal, insect, plant, fungal, and bacterial viruses, whether the research involves the use of clinical, ecological, biological, or biochemical approaches. The Society sponsors an annual meeting, designed to promote discussion and collaboration among scientists active in all aspects of virology.

The 2012 conference will highlight areas that are moving rapidly and emerging themes. These include new insights into the ultrastructure and organization of the energy transducing membranes, the coupling of organellar gene expression with the assembly of photosynthetic and respiratory complexes, the regulatory networks that couple organelle biogenesis with developmental and physiological signals, the signaling events through which organellar physiology influences nuclear gene expression, and the roles of organelles in disease and development. The roster of speakers will have no overlap with that of the prior conference, and will include scientists with international recognition as well as young investigators. The program will be further balanced by selecting a number of short talks from abstracts. To maximize interactions among attendees, we urge all participants to present their recent progress either as a poster or as a talk.

The conference will be enhanced by an accompanying Gordon Research Seminar (GRS). The Gordon Research Seminar provides a special forum for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to present and discuss their research, and to gain confidence to participate actively in the following GRC. A GRS was held in conjunction with the prior two Mitochondria and Chloroplast GRCs, and was a resounding success on both occasions.

Special consideration will be given to qualified applicants who are also members of a group under-represented in the sciences (e.g. low income and first generation, Native American, African American, Latino, or Pacific Islander), faculty at primarily undergraduate institutions, and scientists from developing countries.

The 2012 Conference will present major recent advances on a wide range of topics related to synaptic transmission including vesicle fusion, structure function relationships, novel forms of plasticity and integration of synaptic function into neuronal networks. The Conference will bring together a diverse group of investigators who are at the forefront of their field, and will provide ample opportunities for junior scientists and graduate students to present their work in poster format and exchange ideas with world-class leaders in the field. Some poster presenters will be selected for short talks. In addition, keynote lectures will be delivered by two outstanding scientists whose work on synapses and networks is both highly influential and complementary. Past participants have lauded this GRC for the high quality of unpublished data being presented and for the collegial and interactive atmosphere where scientists at all levels felt welcome to join in the discussion of recent advances in synaptic physiology.