2016 Sleep Regulation and Function: From Cells to Behavior GRC/GRS

Gordon Research Conferences, East Greenwich RI

Investigators

Abstract

? DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The first Gordon Research Conference on Sleep Regulation and Function was held in March 2014 at the GRC site in Galveston TX. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Mark Opp, University of Washington, and co-chaired by Dr. Craig Heller, Stanford University. A steering committee of 12 eminent sleep researchers helped organize the program. Clearly this meeting met a widely felt need for the basic sleep research community. It had the most attendees of any GRC at that site that season, and the post-meeting evaluations were outstanding - 93% satisfaction ranking among all of the GRC's for 2014. Many mentioned that it was the best meeting they had attended. Twenty two percent of the participants came from Asia and Europe. We also believe that we contributed significantly to cultivating the next generation of sleep researchers as thirty percent of attendees were trainees. We also supported diversity in the field as 44% of attendees were women. There are good reasons to predict that the success of the 2016 GRC on Sleep Regulation and Function: From Cells to Behavior will be even greater. Our training opportunities are expanding, with the addition of a Gordon Research Seminar (GRS), a meeting planned by and for trainees. The first GRC on sleep has garnered considerable recognition in the sleep research community for the outstanding science that was presented. The 2016 program promises to be outstanding. The keynote will focus on a new perspective in the interpretation of EEG information during arousal states. Our seven sessions will have the following themes: Sleep Disruption, Pain, and Fatigue; Sleep as a Window to Study Consciousness; Neurophysiology of Memory Consolidation During Sleep; Sleep, Aging, and Neurodegeneration; New Circuits that Regulate Sleep; The Role of Sleep in Peripheral Systems ; Sleep and Epigenetics, and Sleep and the Microbiome. In planning this GRC, we strive to cover the newest and most exciting sleep research and to bring in experts and information from fields outside what has been traditional sleep research. Sleep research is entering an exciting new era. While important discoveries on sleep mechanisms and the regulation of sleep will continue, there are growing numbers of forays into the relationships between sleep and other systems/mechanisms such as learning and memory, the immune system, pain, and the microbiome. A main goal of this meeting will be to discover and discuss where opportunities exist for significant advances in basic sleep research.