Conference Description
The Ligand Recognition and Molecular Gating community is thrilled to participate in the GRC Connects 2.0 pilot program in 2024. GRC Connects 2.0 matches a long-time attendee
at a Gordon Research Conference with a first-time attendee to ensure new attendees feel welcomed and included as a member of the community.
Mentors and mentees will be invited to meet at a reception from 5:00 p.m.- 6:00 p.m. on Sunday immediately prior to dinner and the Sunday
evening session. Funding has been generously provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation for the 2024 pilot program. If you are
interested in participating, please contact connects@grc.org. Space is limited and available on a first come, first serve basis.
Update on 2024 Chairing: Kaspar Locher has been instrumental in the development of the scientific program
for the conference, but has had to step down due to personal reasons. Former chairs Edmund Kunji and
Crina Nimigean will serve as acting chairs for the remaining months leading up to the conference to ensure
a seamless transition for the community.
The Ligand Recognition and Molecular Gating 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scientific conference focused on advancing the frontiers of science through the presentation of cutting-edge and unpublished research, prioritizing time for discussion after each talk and fostering informal interactions among scientists of all career stages.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.
xxThe goal of the conference is to discuss and further cutting-edge research into ion channels, transport proteins, and G protein-coupled receptors. These membrane proteins have key roles in cellular physiology, their dysfunction is implicated in various human diseases, and many are important pharmacological targets. Researchers in this area continue to provide fundamental and novel insight into membrane transport reactions, which offers opportunities for exploring and developing diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. The 2024 edition of this GRC will feature invited talks by world-renowned experts from the fields of structural or computational biology, chemical synthesis, physiology or pharmacology. Participants are encouraged to submit abstracts and bring posters, from which additional speakers will be selected for short talks, with an emphasis on giving starting group leaders an opportunity to present their work and discuss it with established investigators. We also encourage scientists from industry to apply, as the membrane proteins discussed at this conference are major drug targets. A Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) will precede the GRC and will provide young scientists with opportunities to present and discuss their work in an informal setting. We strongly encourage graduate students and post-doctoral fellows to apply to the GRS and to stay for the GRC.
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 November 25, 2023. Please check back for updates.
Somatosensation and Nociception
Discussion Leaders
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Vera Moiseenkova-Bell (University of Pennsylvania, United States)
Speakers
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David Julius (University of California, San Francisco, United States)
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Ute Hellmich (Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany)
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Valeria Vásquez (University of Texas Health Science Center, United States)
Processes at the Synaptic Cleft
Discussion Leaders
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Crina Nimigean (Weill Cornell Medicine, United States)
Speakers
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Sudha Chakrapani (Case Western Reserve University, United States)
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Ryan Hibbs (University of California, San Diego, United States)
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Lucy Forrest (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH, United States)
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Eric Gouaux (Vollum Institute/HHMI , United States)
GPCRs and Transporters in Neurons
Discussion Leaders
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Volodymyr Korkhov (Paul Scherrer Institute / ETH Zurich, Switzerland)
Speakers
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Brian Kobilka (Stanford University, United States)
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Aashish Manglik (University of California, San Francisco, United States)
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Renae Ryan (University of Sydney, Australia)
Receptors and Transporters Involved in Metabolic Diseases
Discussion Leaders
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Eduardo Perozo (University of Chicago, United States)
Speakers
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Denise Wootten (Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, Australia)
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Enrica Bordignon (University of Geneva, Switzerland)
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Amer Alam (The Hormel Institute, University of Minnesota, United States)
Drug and Lipid Transport
Discussion Leaders
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Xiaochun Li (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, United States)
Speakers
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Cristina Paulino (University of Heidelberg, Germany)
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Christine Hrycyna (Purdue University/Dept. Chemistry, United States)
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Seok-Yong Lee (Duke University School of Medicine, United States)
Nutrient and Intracellular Transport
Discussion Leaders
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Nicolas Reyes (National Center of Scientific Research, France)
Speakers
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David Drew (Stockholm University, Sweden)
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Simon Newstead (University of Oxford, United Kingdom)
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Nieng Yan (Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation (SMART) / Tsinghua University, China)
Channels and Transporters in Pathogens and Mitochondria
Discussion Leaders
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Olga Boudker (Weill Cornell Medicine, United States)
Speakers
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Dirk Slotboom (University of Groningen, The Netherlands)
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Edmund Kunji (University of Cambridge, United Kingdom)
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Alessio Accardi (Weill Cornell Medicine, United States)
Exploring Lipid and Ion Transport through Structural, Functional, Biophysical and Computational Techniques
Discussion Leaders
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Marta Filizola (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, United States)
Speakers
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Janice Robertson (Washington University in St. Louis, United States)
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Emad Tajkhorshid (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, United States)
Late Breaking Topics
Discussion Leaders
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Poul Nissen (Aarhus University, Denmark)
Speakers
The GRC Power Hour™
Organizers
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Renae Ryan (University of Sydney, Australia)
