Conference Description
The Cellular and Molecular Fungal Biology GRC is a premier, international scientific conference focused on advancing the frontiers of science through the presentation of cutting-edge and unpublished research, prioritizing time for discussion after each talk and fostering informal interactions among scientists of all career stages. The conference program includes a diverse range of speakers and discussion leaders from institutions and organizations worldwide, concentrating on the latest developments in the field. The conference is five days long and held in a remote location to increase the sense of camaraderie and create scientific communities, with lasting collaborations and friendships. In addition to premier talks, the conference has designated time for poster sessions from individuals of all career stages, and afternoon free time and communal meals allow for informal networking opportunities with leaders in the field.
The 2024 Gordon Research Conference on Cellular and Molecular Fungal Biology will focus on the exquisite and diverse examples of how fungi communicate and interact with other microbes, hosts, and the environment. Fungal communication is fundamental to the ability of fungi to colonize substrates, compete for resources, interact with one another for sexual or parasexual reproduction, infect host organisms to cause disease, and for all forms of mutualistic symbioses and commensal interactions. As such, it is core to the fungal lifestyle and yet we know relatively little about communication mechanisms and the corresponding signaling pathways that enable effective responses to be made. As fungi are osmotrophic organisms that digest their food before ingestion, there is a constant need to protect these resources and to compete with other organisms within any environment. This characteristic has probably been an important driver for the complex patterns of communication we observe throughout fungal evolution. This conference will explore fungal communication in all its forms– sensing signaling, responding, and adapting – and allow new insights to emerge regarding fundamental principles and mechanisms.
The topics, speakers, and discussion leaders for the conference sessions are displayed below. The conference chair is currently developing their detailed program, which will include the complete meeting schedule, as well as the talk titles for all speakers. The detailed program will be available by February 17, 2024. Please check back for updates.
Keynote Session: Fungal Communication Highways
Discussion Leaders
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Eva Stukenbrock (Kiel University, Germany)
Speakers
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Sophien Kamoun (The Sainsbury Laboratory, United Kingdom)
Intracellular Communication
Discussion Leaders
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Michelle Momany (University of Georgia, United States)
Speakers
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Ksenia Krasileva (UC Berkeley, United States)
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Martin Egan (University of Arkansas, United States)
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Michael McMurray (University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, United States)
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Richard Garratt (São Carlos Institute of Physics, University of São Paulo, Brazil)
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Joris Sprakel (Green Mechanobiology, Wageningen University, The Netherlands)
Extracellular Communication
Discussion Leaders
Speakers
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Ronelle Roth (University of Oxford, United Kingdom)
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Caroline Gutjahr (Max-Planck-Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Germany)
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Jessica Brown (University of Utah, United States)
Genomic Perspectives on Fungal Communication
Discussion Leaders
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Daniel Croll (University of Neuchatel, Switzerland)
Speakers
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Megan McDonald (University of Birmingham, United Kingdom)
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Asiya Gusa (Duke University, United States)
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Christina Cuomo (Brown University, United States)
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Alessia Buscaino (University of Kent, United Kingdom)
Inter-organism Fungal Communication
Discussion Leaders
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Reinhard Fischer (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany)
Speakers
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Bart Thomma (University of Cologne, Germany)
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Henrik H. De Fine Licht (University of Copenhagen, Denmark)
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Aileen Berasategui (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Host-microbe Communication
Discussion Leaders
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Elizabeth Ballou (University of Exeter , United Kingdom)
Speakers
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Diana Gómez De La Cruz (The Sainsbury Laboratory, United Kingdom)
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Jesús Romo (The University of Texas at San Antonio, United States)
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Carolyn Elya (Harvard University, United States)
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Teresa O'Meara (University of Michigan, United States)
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Aleeza Gerstein (University of Manitoba, Canada)
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Robert Cramer (Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, United States)
Sensing, Signaling and Developmental Communication
Discussion Leaders
Speakers
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Jin-Rong Xu (Purdue University, United States)
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Laszlo G. Nagy (Biological Research Center, Hungary)
Communication with the Environment
Discussion Leaders
Speakers
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Johanna Rhodes (Imperial College London and Radboudumc, The Netherlands)
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Amelia Barber (University of Jena, Germany)
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Andre Fleissner (Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany)
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Simone Fouche (personal, South Africa)
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Mike Bromley (University of Manchester, United Kingdom)
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Paul Magwene (Duke University, United States)
Late-Breaking Topics
Discussion Leaders
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Bridget Barker (Northern Arizona University, United States)
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Elaine Bignell (The University of Exeter, United Kingdom)
Speakers
The GRC Power Hour™
Organizers
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Robert Todd (Bard College, United States)
