Expanding the Understanding of CNS Barriers in Health and Disease

The barriers of the central nervous system (CNS) represent essential interfaces between the CNS and the rest of the body, contributing to protection of the CNS as well as hindering treatment of CNS diseases. The overall goal of the Gordon Research Conference on Barriers of the CNS, "Expanding the understanding of CNS barriers in health and disease", is to increase the understanding of the basic mechanisms underlying the structure and function of the brain barriers, including the blood-brain barrier, in health and disease. The specific aim of the Barriers GRC is to bring together international experts as well as young investigators, postdocs, and students from across the world with a broad range of interests in barrier issues, for a five-day conference focused on facilitating knowledge and discussion of critical, not yet published, cutting-edge findings in the CNS barriers field that could shift research directions and treatment paradigms. Major themes of the 2014 conference will include cutting edge research on changes in CNS barrier structure/function occurring with neurodegenerative diseases, tumors, stroke, and CNS infections. Special focus will be on expanding knowledge of model systems for barrier function, e.g. zebrafish and drosophila models, and the state and development of new translational knowledge for the clinic. Another important theme will be to highlight novel delivery strategies especially for larger molecules that can circumvent the barriers for effective CNS treatment.

The Barriers GRC fills a critical niche which otherwise does not exist among other major international and national conferences to bring together barrier scientists from diverse fields and countries for a focused meeting on barrier issues, broadening the understanding from molecular mechanisms to drug delivery. The Barriers GRC is an ideal forum to discuss long term problems, recent advances and new directions in the brain barriers field.

The Conference will be preceded by the Gordon Research Seminar from June 14-15. Graduate students, post-docs and junior scientists are particularly encouraged to participate in the Seminar entitled "The neurovascular unit - partners for life".