How Cells Migrate and Sense Direction Under Diverse Physiological Conditions

Directed cell migration plays central roles in shaping tissues during development, in tissue renewal and immune surveillance post-development, and in the most dangerous aspects of cancer progression. For the past twenty years, the Directed Cell Migration GRC has provided the intellectual home for a highly diverse group of scientists who study how cells migrate and sense direction in all the physiological contexts described above and who do so using a variety of approaches. The attendees include cell and developmental biologists, immunologists, cancer biologists, bioengineers, applied mathematicians, and physics, who come together to discuss their latest unpublished data, learn from one another, and generate the types of novel hypotheses and collaborations that speed discovery. Our invited speakers are a mixture of established community leaders and new rising stars. There will also be 20 short talks and 24 poster preview talks chosen from the abstracts that will allow students, postdocs, and junior faculty members to gain broad exposure for their work. Finally, the meeting will feature two optional activities to strengthen our community – a GRC Power Hour, in which participants discuss how to overcome challenges faced by women and other underrepresented groups in science, and a Workshop on Scientific Storytelling led by Dr. Daniel Cohen, in which participants will learn to communicate their science to the public in an engaging way.