Saturday, September 7, 2024
9/7/2024
Abstract Initiated in 2014, the Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Cell Polarity Signaling filled a very important but unmet need, as there were no regular conferences on the broad topic of cell polarity prior to the initiation of this GRC meeting. Based on highly positive feedback from the first four GRCs, we are organizing a fifth meeting for 2024 to continue an ongoing forum for the very dynamic and diverse cell polarity field. Polarity is fundamental to all of biology, with profound implications for cell and tissue organization in normal development and homeostasis, and in numerous diseases including cancer. For these reasons, cell polarity has become an important area of research with increasing number of investigators. To bring new participants and topics to the meeting, the 2024 GRC intends to diversify the topics even more under the subtitle of ‘Polarity and asymmetry in tissue architecture and cell fate’, covering a new aspect of cell polarity that had not been covered previously. A Gordon Research Seminar (GRS), organized by two postdoctoral trainees and subtitled “Mechanics of polarity signal integration across scales” will precede the GRC. The GRS is expected to attract ~50 trainees to present and discuss their research. The GRS will foster networking and collaborations to help trainees develop their careers. It will also provide a valuable learning experience for those involved in organizing the GRS. Several senior investigators in the cell polarity field will be invited to the GRS to discuss their research and provide mentoring and feedback. Sessions at the GRS and GRC will range from basic cell biology and development of model organisms to translational studies in cancer biology. Many talks at the GRC will focus on the meeting subtitle – ‘Polarity and asymmetry in tissue architecture and cell fate.’ The invited speakers for 2024 will be different from that of the 2022 conference, and the majority of them have never been invited as speakers to any previous Cell Polarity GRC. Newly added topics and experimental systems will keep the meeting fresh and relevant and will broaden the number of investigators who can present their research. Among the ~30 invited speakers/chairs from multiple countries, 50% are women, ~30% are junior PIs. We paid special attention to diversifying demography as well, although we not have exact data on the number of NIH-defined URM. 20 short talks will be selected from submitted abstracts. Interactive poster presentations will take place on 4 afternoons, and several poster presenters will be selected to present poster preview talks to advertise their poster. The program includes a ‘Power Hour’ to discuss the challenges women and URMs face in academia. We will promote diversity in the programs for the GRC and GRS, through GRC minority fellowship funding, and through focused advertising via scientific societies. We envision that the 2024 GRC/GRS will facilitate discussion of cutting edge research in cell polarity and will foster collaborations that will fuel the field forward.
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