2010 REPRODUCTIVE TRACT BIOLOGY GORDON RESEARCH CONFERENCE

Gordon Research Conferences, East Greenwich RI

Investigators

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Funds are requested to partially support the Gordon Research Conference on Reproductive Tract Biology to be held in August of 2010. This meeting has been held at 2-year intervals since its inception in 1973. The meeting is attended by reproductive biologists working in diverse mammalian systems including laboratory animals, livestock, non-human primates, and humans. The objective of this meeting is to exchange information to advance our understanding of the biology of the mammalian reproductive tract organs. A great deal of collaboration results from these meetings: reagents were exchanged, experiments planned and new ways of looking at reproductive tract biology discussed. Approximately, 45% of the participants of the 2008 conference were junior scientists, offering an important training opportunity. We expect the 2010 meeting to be as productive and stimulating as the previous ones. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The mammalian reproductive tract includes the gonads (testes or ovaries), genital ducts and associated organs (oviduct, uterus, and vagina, epididymis, vas deferens, prostate), external genitalia, and the organ of fetal-maternal interaction, the placenta. These organs are essential for the continuation of species and a frequent site of human disease, including infertility and cancer. The proposed Gordon Research Conference on Reproductive Tract Biology will bring together senior and junior scientists studying diverse mammals and humans to learn more about the biology of the mammalian reproductive organs to apply new knowledge to the treatment of disease.