Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Signaling by Adhesion Receptors

The Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Signaling by Adhesion Receptors was established in 2000 and has become the premier meeting on cellular adhesion biology, mechanobiology, and their relevance to development, homeostasis, and disease. The 2024 meeting, subtitled “Adhesion and Growth Factor Receptors in Health and Disease,”

will be held from July 14 to July 19, 2024 at the Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, NH. The meeting Chairs

will be Dr. Alexander Dunn, Dr. Patrick Derksen, and Dr. Maddy Parsons. These chairs are leading investigators in the fields

of cellular adhesion and cancer biology and provide complimentary expertise in these fields. A prominent, new goal of this meeting will be to couple fundamental discovery science with clinical cancer diagnosis and treatment. As in previous meetings, we aim to disseminate the latest discoveries concerning mechanical and biochemical crosstalk between adhesion

and growth factor receptors, as well as how these two receptor classes interact in the context of multiple diseases.

Additionally, we will highlight the ongoing development of novel tools and techniques that promise to accelerate progress in our field. We likewise look forward to showcasing near-physiological modeling to better understand development and

disease, and clinical applications of adhesion and growth factor receptor modulation. Lastly, we will emphasize emerging

topics in the field. This interdisciplinary meeting plays an essential role in instigating and fostering collaborations among scientists with diverse backgrounds in bioimaging, bioengineering, and cancer and developmental biology. These interdisciplinary interactions provide a powerful means of uncovering commonalities in how disruptions in signaling at

cellular adhesion complexes contribute to diseases that are typically studied by separate intellectual communities.

Speakers will include established leaders in the field, as well as young, promising investigators. In addition to plenary

talks, the meeting will feature informal and interactive poster sessions. We have also planned afternoons that facilitate

informal engagement among trainees and investigators. We have initiated a concept called ‘walk with a PI’ (introduced in

the 2022 meeting; Chairs were Drs. Ann Miller and Patrick Derksen), in which junior scientists are given the opportunity to

engage senior leaders in one-on-one sessions. Importantly, a total of 10 junior scientists (trainees or newly appointed young

investigators) will be invited to give oral presentations, a policy that contributes to the mentoring culture of the meeting. As an important feature of this meeting, the main conference will be preceded by a two-day Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) planned by and for predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees. The GRS (Chairs: Drs. Timo Kohler and Fernando Valencia) will

provide a forum for future leaders in the field to present their work through oral and poster presentations in a collegial and

interactive environment. In addition, interactions with leaders from academia, industry, and government will provide GRS participants with mentoring aimed at advancing the careers of these exceptionally promising young scientists.