Intermediate Filaments at the Crossroads Between Health and Disease

Recent biomedical research has shown that a large number of human diseases ranging from skin disorders to dilated cardiomyopathy and premature aging diseases are caused by mutations in specific intermediate filament proteins. Intermediate Filaments (IF) are comprised of cytoskeletal and nucleoskeletal proteins that play a key role in determining cell shape and nuclear architecture; they are also involved in the modulation and propagation of signals within cells and in the regulation of cell motilty. The 2014 Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) will bring graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to discuss their most recent findings and how to tackle specific research problems as well as techniques and methods. The Gordon Research Seminar on Intermediate Filaments is a unique forum for graduate students, post-docs, and other scientists with comparable levels of experience and education. This forum provides an unprecedented opportunity for new investigators to present and exchange data and cutting edge ideas. Prominent senior scientists in the field will participate in the seminar as discussion leaders in some of the sessions. The topics of this meeting will focus on a wide range of studies on the structure and function of intermediate filaments (IFs) using biophysical, cell and molecular biological techniques. The goal of this seminar is to:

1. Provide an up-to-date overview of the structure and function of all intermediate filament proteins and how they are involved in human disease, with special emphasis on themes and issues that timely and topical.
2. Provide a venue for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to discuss their current research in platform and poster sessions, and give them an opportunity to obtain valuable feedback from both peers and the expert mentors who will be invited to the GRS. These interactions will be focused on problem solving and applications and use of state-of-the-art techniques.
3. Provide a discussion forum for career development in areas related to the field.