Understanding the Molecular Mechanisms that Underpin Wound Repair and Regeneration

The Gordon Research Conference on Tissue Repair and Regeneration (GRC-TRR) remains the premiere meeting in the field successfully bringing together the full diversity of researchers interested in regenerative medicine, from the basic mechanisms of tissue repair and regeneration through to their clinical applications. Understanding the molecular mechanisms that underpin wound repair and regeneration is key to advancing modern medicine. Wound healing is the body’s process of repairing damaged tissue, however, there are many occasions when tissue repair fails, leading to chronic non-healing wounds. On other occasions the wounding response is too exuberant leading to fibrosis and scarring as a consequence of excessive contraction, healing and inflammation. Together, the various pathologies of wound healing represent a major healthcare burden costing tens of billions of dollars in healthcare costs in the US alone. Despite a clear need, there is still a scarcity of high tech, science-driven, treatments available for enhancing healing. The search for novel clinical strategies that improve the body’s endogenous repair mechanisms requires an in depth understanding of both wound repair mechanisms and the process of regeneration. One key goal is to find ways in which we can tip the balance from imperfect wound repair to perfect regeneration of injured tissues as demonstrated by many lower organisms following wounding. The study of tissue repair and regeneration sits at the crossroads of cell/developmental biology and medicine and as such is one of the most lively and diverse fields in basic biomedical research.

The goal of the 2019 GRC-TRR is to bring together interactive scientists interested in any of the various aspects of repair and regeneration and to provide an environment in which participants can actively exchange their latest ideas and foster cross-disciplinary collaborations. We have planned nine scientific sessions bringing together some of the finest minds in regenerative medicine and spanning the full diversity of experimental approaches and models relevant to repair and regeneration. The titles for the sessions are 1. Cancer and Wound Healing, 2. Model Organisms, 3. Cell Death in Repair, 4. Inflammation, Infection and Repair, 5. Fibrosis and Matrix, 6. Stem Cells and Organ Repair, 7. Neurobiology and Evolution of repair, 8. Clinical Progress in Repair and Regeneration, 9. New Perspectives on Wound repair and Regeneration

A superb lineup of speakers at the forefront of their fields has been recruited for the meeting (see program below) and these will be joined by a number of speakers selected from submitted abstracts to give short talks. The meeting will also include vibrant poster sessions to stimulate lively discussion and debate and in all the sessions, novel unpublished results will be presented. As has been the case for the last four GRC-TRR meetings we will host a GRS pre-meeting for postdocs and students in conjuction with the GRC-TRR, which will be held on June 8th-9th.