Understanding Development, Function and Regeneration of Secretory Tissues: Novel Signaling Pathways and Approaches to Treat Exocrine Disorders

The Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Salivary Glands and Exocrine Biology will include sessions on exocrine gland development, regenerative approaches, functional relevance of salivary proteins, membrane functions in exocrine glands, understanding the etiology of autoimmune disease, targeting inflammation to retard disease pathogenesis and current topics in cell biology of exocrine glands. Invited speakers for the GRC will include eminent scientists from academia, industry and government and talks will include both senior and junior scientists from diverse fields who will present unpublished research findings on subjects of greatest interest to the field. This GRC will include a Graduate Research Seminar (GRS) to be held just prior to the GRC that will invite only speakers who are graduate students and postdoctoral associates in a wide variety of laboratories worldwide. In addition, poster sessions will be held daily at the GRC and GRS to enable all attendees to present and discuss their data in an open forum. The overall goal of the GRC and GRS will be to foster scientific exchanges and engender research collaborations in disciplines that are viewed as having a major impact on the development of novel strategies to improve human health. Specific Aims include: 1) to present a program of topical interest to attendees in a pleasant setting where they will have opportunities to present unpublished findings before a knowledgeable audience and engage in a wide range of critical research discussions; 2) to offer for the first time, a GRS to be attended by graduate students and postdoctoral associates who will present their novel research findings before an audience of their peers and; 3) to emphasize presentations on state-of-the-art methodologies of interest to the exocrine biology field towards the goal of developing innovative approaches to the improvement of human health by preventing disorders of secretory organs.