Nuclear Bodies: Hubs of Genomic Activity

Project Summary/Abstract This application seeks support for a FASEB (Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology) Science Research Conference, entitled: “Nuclear Bodies: Hubs of Gene Expression.” The meeting will be held July 24-28, 2024 at Niagara Falls, NY. This conference builds directly on momentum from a

predecessor FASEB meeting, held in 2022. Nuclear bodies are subcellular structures composed of proteins and RNAs that typically occupy the spaces between interphase chromosomes. They have been implicated in many aspects of gene expression at the post-transcriptional stages. Following the 2022 meeting, there has been increased attention on the relationship between nuclear bodies and human

disease, particularly cancer- and this topic will be a major focus of the meeting. In addition, the biophysical phenomenon of liquid-liquid phase separation was found to be a major dynamic feature of nuclear bodies and this will be a second major theme of the meeting. The program has 41 confirmed speakers, of whom half did not attend the first meeting. As before, approximately one third of the

confirmed speakers are early career scientists (defined as graduate student, post-doctoral fellow or Assistant Professor). The program includes a Keynote Lecture on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in cell biology, along with a Career Development and Mentoring session. Additional speaker invitations will be

made this autumn and subsequently from the submitted abstracts. The anticipated number of participants is 75-80. The organizers will be approaching numerous companies and foundations for additional support, together with funds being provided by FASEB, as described in the budget section of the application. Similar to the 2022 meeting, a scientific report (FASEB J. 36(11):e2258. doi:

10.1096/fj.202201455R) on the conference will be published.