2023 Translation Machinery in Health and Disease GRC/GRS

Gordon Research Conferences, East Greenwich RI

Investigators

Abstract

Project Abstract Partial support is requested for the Translation Machinery in Health and Disease-Protein Synthesis and Cellular Synergy Gordon Research Seminar and Gordon Research Conference to be held in Galveston, Texas on February 19-24, 2023. It is the first and to our knowledge, the only, disease-focused, interdisciplinary meeting on mRNA translation. Unlike other conferences that mainly focus on the structure of the translational machinery and its function in protein synthesis, the focus of this GRC is on the role of translation in human disease and its alternations on pathological consequences. This unique conference provides a forum for scientists to discuss their findings with an ultimate long-term goal of building collaborations toward understanding and finding treatments for disease. The specific aims of the Gordon Research Conference are to convene 50 speakers and an additional 125-150 participants who are experts in the fields of neurological disease, stress and aging, cancer, infectious diseases, ribosomepathies, rare diseases, mitochondrial diseases and metabolic diseases to discuss basic science and therapeutic interventions. The accompanying Gordon Research Seminar will provide a forum for scientists in early stages of their career to present their research on translation and disease and networking activity. The invited speakers, other attendees, and early stage scientists will have many opportunities to talk to researchers in other areas of translation research, exchange ideas and concepts among different disciplines, and develop new collaborations. Dr. Susan Ackerman, an expert in translation aspect of neuroscience and neurodegeneration, and Dr. Jonathan Weissman, an expert in translation in human biology will give keynote lectures at the Gordon Research Conference, and Dr. Katrin Karbstein, an expert on ribosome assembly and function will give the keynote at the Gordon Research Seminar. In addition to invited speakers and speakers chosen from the abstracts, four poster sessions will enable all participants to contribute to the meeting. There will be many opportunities for young investigators, women, and minorities to interact with senior leaders in the translation field. The conference also includes a GRC-sponsored “power hour” which will provide a platform to discuss challenges that women and other underrepresented minorities face in science. As the first and only conference on translation and disease, this conference will significantly impact the participant's understanding of several major disease mechanisms that are of interest to several NIH institutions. This meeting provides a critical “translational” venue for investigators studying translation.