Keypoint Newsletter: Upcoming 2-Day Emerging Topics Conferences

Last year we launched a new 2-day format for conferences on emerging topics, which were met with great enthusiasm by the nascent communities of scientists exploring these new frontiers of research.  This year we have five exciting 2-day meetings on topics ranging from interoception to microproteins, where the science and clinical implications are rapidly expanding. Please help spread the word and mobilize your communities to attend these hot-off-the-presses conferences!

See Past 2-Day Emerging Topics Conferences

Targeting Dry Age-related Macular Degeneration: Pathophysiology and Emerging Therapies

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the majority cause of irreversible vision loss worldwide in older patients.  In particular, the non-exudative forms of AMD, including intermediate AMD, geographic atrophy, as well as atrophy and fibrosis that occurs as complications of exudative AMD, are areas of unmet need and major drivers of legal blindness. The broad goal of this meeting is to bring together basic scientists, clinician-scientists, and drug-developers working in retinal disease to share data, perspectives, and innovations on how these unmet needs can be addressed.  

Microproteins: from Discovery to Applications

This meeting will bring together leaders and rising stars in the emerging field of microproteins, proteins encoded on small open reading frames (smORFs) found in regions of the genome previously thought to be non-coding. Microproteins have been shown to act as key players in physiology and disease, such as development, metabolism, cardiac function, neurological function, the immune system, and several forms of cancer.  The field must now place more emphasis on studying the physiological impact of microproteins across organisms and translating microprotein biology into novel therapies. We will learn strategies to reveal microprotein functions through novel computational and experimental techniques, and hear about the latest examples of microproteins implicated in disease and how they might be leveraged for new therapeutic development.

Regenerative Biology of the Female Reproductive System

This conference will provide a critical venue to gather scientists, clinicians and biological engineers to collectively advance this field and address the substantial unmet clinical needs in reproductive health, including fibroids, endometriosis, menopause, infertility, reproductive cancers and gender affirming care. Despite its rich biology and immense public health relevance, the female reproductive tract and its associated biology have been traditionally understudied and underserved areas of research, and the scientific community currently lacks convening mechanisms for researchers focused on these important topics. This meeting will cultivate cross-disciplinary collaborations and consolidate a new community that will be necessary to tackle major challenges in the field, which include the development of appropriate preclinical models and eliminating racial inequities in reproductive health outcomes. 

Interoception: Neural Sensing and Control of Organ Function

Our mechanistic understanding of how the brain receives and reacts to signals from inside the body, is just beginning to be explored. Peripheral organs and tissues are innervated by nerves that connect to the central nervous system, and increasing evidence demonstrates critical central control of peripheral organ function in the context of both health, and disease. Conversely, signals from the heart, lung, intestine, pancreas, spleen etc. impact neuronal activity in the brain with unknown implications. This conference will serve as a nucleation point in the fast-growing field of interoception, bringing together neurobiologists, immunologists, physiologists, stem cell biologists, systems biologists, pharmacologists, bioengineers, and theorists, to integrate their perspectives and derive cross-disciplinary insights in understanding this sixth sense and its implications in health and disease.  The event will serve as a platform to inspire and nurture a diverse cohort of young investigators who will shape the future of the field.

Metabolic and Nutritional Control of Development and Cell Fate

Metabolism supports many developmental processes, including programmed cell death, proliferation, migration and cell fate control, all of which are essential for development of complex organisms, including humans. The field of developmental metabolism aims to determine how nutrient availability and the regulation of metabolic pathways support and instruct processes such as tissue patterning, developmental timing, organ function, and cell fate control. This meeting will bring together researchers at the interface of metabolism and development with the goal of providing complementary perspectives in this emerging field. The goal is to drive new research frontiers in the exciting field of developmental metabolism, outline pressing questions in the field, and showcase the powerful role of metabolites in establishing and maintaining cell fitness across developmental timescales.

Donate to Support Emerging Topics Meetings

to build communities in nascent fields & expand new research frontiers!

Return to the September 2024 Keypoint Newsletter