Frontiers in Pancreatic Research

The first GRC on Pancreatic Diseases was held in July, 2013 at Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA, USA. The distinctive concept of this GRC is to bring together basic and physician scientists at the forefront of research in all aspects of pancreatic diseases, including diabetes, pancreatic cancer and pancreatitis. Theses complex diseases represent a major threat for human health and society and advancement in their understanding and treatment requires an interdisciplinary approach. Given the close developmental and physiological relatedness of pancreatic exocrine and endocrine cells and the significant epidemiological association between pancreatic cancer and diabetes, it is especially felt that a forum for scientific exchange among leaders in these fields provides a unique opportunity to establish new collaborations and foster much needed progress in these research areas and translation of this information into medical practice.

Following the resounding success of the first conference, the second GRC "Pancreatic Diseases" will take place July 19-24, 2015 at Mount Holyoke College South Hadley, MA USA. The program we have assembled is first-rate, benefitting from the contribution of international world-class female and male scientists engaged in research relevant to different aspects of pancreatic diseases. As for all GRCs, the guiding principle of this Conference is the presentation of new, unpublished results and the free, unhampered discussion that follows. This tradition of freely sharing ideas is due in large part to GRC's "off the record" policy which prohibits photography or tape recording of sessions or the publication of conference proceedings. Participation of young scientists, including PhD students, postdocs and junior group leaders is especially welcome, with opportunities of short talks and partial reimbursement of conference fees and traveling costs for selected poster abstracts.