Conference: 2005 Molecular and Cellular Bioenergetics Gordon Conference to be held June 26 - July 1, 2005 in Meriden, NH.

Gordon Research Conferences, East Greenwich RI

Investigators

Abstract

The 2005 Molecular and Cellular Bioenergetics Gordon Conference is the third annual conference in this series which was originally held on a biannual basis and called the Bioenergetics Gordon Conference. The renaming of the conference and move to an annual basis was based on a significant expansion of scope to include the rapidly growing area of cellular bioenergetics, in addition to the traditional focus on structure and mechanism in the electron transport chain and ATPases. The Molecular and Cellular Bioenergetics Gordon Conference now provides a unique venue for bringing together a diverse group of investigators that apply multidisciplinary approaches to a series of basic scientific questions encompassing bioenergetics. Support is requested to cover travel and conference fees for participants from US institutions, particularly younger scientists who might otherwise be unable to attend. Intellectual Merit: The 2005 conference will be the first in the annual series to have a special focus on cellular bioenergetics. Session topics include how cells regulate and recognize pH gradients, genomic and proteomic approaches to bioenergetics, assembly of respiratory chain complexes, and new frontiers in mitochondrial biology. In addition, there will be several sessions focused on the traditional content of the meeting, including high resolution structures of bioenergetic complexes , structure and function of F- and V-type ATPases, and mechanisms of respiratory chain complexes. The participants at the Molecular and Cellular Bioenergetics Gordon Conference represent leading scientists drawn from academics, government, and industry. It is a major goal of the conference to allow junior scientists, including graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, to present their research. Consistent with this goal, the Gordon Conference is organized to maximize the opportunity for presentation and discussion of the latest findings. Broader Impact: The potential impacts of this meeting are several-fold. 1) The Molecular and Cellular Bioenergetics Gordon Conference is now very definitely a cross-disciplinary meeting, bringing together leading scientists interested in the structure and mechanisms of bioenergetic systems and those interested in cell biological processes surrounding these systems. Recent results have dramatically highlighted the mutual dependence of these two groups, but in the past they have not interacted extensively. We anticipate that all participants will have a broader view of modern problems in bioenergetics as a result of this conference. 2) This meeting is a superb opportunity for training of younger scientists in the field, such as graduate students and postdocs. Modern biology is necessarily multi-disciplinary. By bringing together leading biophysical chemists, structural biologists, and cell biologists focused on the common problem of understanding how cells and organisms store and use energy, this meeting provides an excellent example of how different approaches can contribute to common research goals. As described above, younger scientists will not be passive observers in this process, but will be strongly encouraged to participate through presentation of their own research. 3) This meeting provides an excellent venue for dissemination of new technologies that might be applied to problems in bioenergetics. For example, the session on genomics and proteomics will describe the latest methods for addressing bioenergetic processes from the perspective of a whole organism or cell-type. These approaches have not been emphasized previously in this conference.