The Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Signal Transduction By Engineered Extracellular Matrices was established in 2000 and has become the premier meeting at the intersection of bioengineering and stem cell biology. The 2012 meeting, to be held July 8-13 at the University of New England in Biddeford, ME, highlights another important dimension - applications of stem cell/engineered matrix constructs to human clinical therapy. The main objective of the conference will be to share the newest knowledge from research on: the development and regulation of cellular microenvironments; the control of cell function by engineered microenvironments; dynamic tracking of cell fate in vivo; and application of such insights to the development and optimization of human clinical therapies for tissue repair and regeneration. This meeting necessarily brings together researchers in diverse fields of stem cell and developmental biology, chemistry, bioimaging and engineering for both the understanding of cellular function and how this can be harnessed for the repair and replacement of tissues lost or damaged due to disease or injury. Lively discussion sessions will include well-established leaders in the field, as well as emerging young investigators. The meeting also includes highly interactive poster sessions, and some poster presenters will be selected for short talks. The collegial atmosphere of the Conference affords ample opportunity for informal gatherings in the afternoons and evenings, which provides an avenue for scientists from different disciplines in both industry and academia to brainstorm, network and establish new cross-disciplinary collaborations in this dynamic area of research at the interface of biology and engineering.

As initiated in 2010, the main Conference in 2012 will be preceded by a weekend meeting planned by and for pre-doctoral and post-doctoral trainees. This pre-meeting, the Gordon Research Seminar (GRS), provides a forum for future leaders in this growing interdisciplinary field to present their work in talks and posters in a highly interactive environment that fosters creativity and collaboration.