The Gordon Research Conference on Lysosomes and Endocytosis covers recent advances in understanding the function and molecular regulation of the endocytic pathway, lysosomes, and related subcellular organelles. Endosomes and lysosomes play critical roles in the physiology of cells and organisms by serving as the cellular entry point for nutrients, toxins and pathogens and the nexus for intercellular signaling networks. Many inherited and somatic diseases result from defects in endocytic and lysosomal pathways. Some pathogens are destroyed by these pathways, while others subvert their function during infection. Moreover, these pathways play key roles in the stimulation and implementation of immune responses, glucose and lipid metabolism, cell and tissue development, and cancer.

Topics of focus for the 2012 meeting include molecular mechanisms and cell biology of endocytic and degradative pathways, as well as their role in human health and disease. Sessions will cover molecular features of endocytic membrane traffic such as coat formation, membrane tubulation, and cell physiology including endosomal and lysosomal membrane traffic, autophagy and formation and function of specialized lysosome-related organelles. Other sessions will focus on the roles of endocytic pathways in infection and immunity, diabetes and metabolism and development. The conference will continue to feature a session on 'New Directions' in which novel technical and conceptual developments in the field will be discussed.

The meeting will be divided into nine half-day sessions, comprising a mixture of invited speakers and those selected from abstracts. Attendance by under-represented minorities, students, postdoctoral fellows, junior faculty, and faculty from primarily undergraduate institutions is encouraged. If you are a student or postdoctoral researcher, it is very important to identify the principal investigator of your laboratory in your application. This conference is usually oversubscribed, so early application is advised with a suggested deadline of April 2, 2012, after which the conference may be filled. Decisions regarding speaking opportunities for available slots will be made only for abstracts submitted by this date. Applications received after the conference is full will be assigned to a waiting list.

Prior to and in association with the Gordon Research Conference, new in 2012 there will be a Gordon Research Seminar on Lysosomes and Endocytosis, in which students and post-doctoral researchers can present their work to each other and attend instructional seminars prior to the arrival of senior investigators.