Fourth International Conf. on Relaxin &Related Peptides

University Of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign IL

Investigators

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Relaxin 2004, which will be the 4th international conference on relaxin and related peptides, will be held from September 5 through September 10, 2004 at Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton National Park. Participants at Relaxin 2004 will include not only graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty from basic science and clinical departments in academic institutions, but also scientists from research institutes, hospitals, and commercial companies. The conference has five primary goals. The first is to assemble essentially all of the scientists in the world conducting research on relaxin and relaxin-related peptides in an informal setting that fosters not only extensive and free exchange of ideas but also the formation of subsequent collaborative studies. The second goal is to recruit and motivate young investigators to pursue research on relaxin and related peptides. The third goal is to promote the attendance of basic and clinical scientists who are not presently conducting research on relaxin and/or relaxin-related peptides in order to stimulate their interest in doing so. The fourth goal is to deliver a scientific program that provides comprehensive coverage of recent findings concerning both basic and clinical research on relaxin and relaxin-related peptides. The fifth goal is to publish the proceedings of Relaxin 2004 in a high quality book that assures that the proceedings are broadly distributed throughout the scientific community. In that regard the proceedings of Relaxin 2004 has been provisionally approved for publication in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Topics to be covered at the conference are (1) Structure of relaxin and related peptides, (2) Structure/activity relationships of relaxin and related peptides, (3) Structure of relaxin and related peptide receptors, (4) Reproductive physiology of relaxin, (5) Nonreproductive effects of relaxin on the brain, heart, kidney, and liver, (6) Relaxin's effects on tissue growth and remodeling, (7) Relaxin-induced signal transduction pathways, (8) Physiological effects of relaxin-related peptides, and (9) Clinical uses of relaxin for diagnosis and/or treatment in domestic animals and humans. This application is to obtain funding that will assist in the attainment of the second goal by markedly reducing the registration fee for young scientists who will present their research at Relaxin 2004. Conference web site: http://www.life.uiuc.edu/relaxin2004/