Excitable Membranes in the Era of Precision Biology

The broad and long-term goal of the conference is to increase our understanding of the structure, function and physiological roles of ion channels, their targeting by next generation therapeutics, as well as their dysfunction in disease. The 2018 iteration of the meeting will gather the collective technical and conceptual advances in structural determination, functional analysis, computational modelling and targeted genetic editing – all with heightened experimental control and structural resolution – thus giving rise to the guiding concept of ‘precision biology’. The specific aims of this meeting will be to convene roughly 42 speakers and discussion leaders that represent critical areas of ion channel research with a maximum total of 200 participants for a five-day meeting in a secluded setting. The program will have nine sessions that broadly cover current issues in ion channel mechanisms in human health and disease. In addition, four poster sessions will allow all participants to make important contributions to the scientific discussions. The Ion Channels Gordon Research Conference is a critical component of the established meetings that fertilize ideas and research in the community of ion channel biologists. Indeed, the small size and intensive discussions engendered by the Ion Channels GRC make it uniquely important for the catalysis of new ideas and directions among the participants. The goals of the meeting are to advance the biological resolution of ion channels as foundational players within the cardiovascular and nervous systems, and as therapeutic targets for the cure and treatment of human disease.