2025 Red Cells Gordon Research Conference and Gordon Research Seminar

Project Summary We seek funding for the 2025 Red Cells Gordon Research Conference (GRC), which will be held on June 8 -13 at Salve Regina University in Newport, RI. The Red Cells GRC was initiated in 1979 and is an international forum for the presentation of the latest unpublished data on erythroid biology. The 2025 Red Cells GRC will be accompanied by a Gordon Research Seminar (GRS), which serves as a critical venue for trainees to present science in a unique environment that fosters interactions between trainees and established investigators. The aims of the 2025 Red Cells GRC are: (1) Provide a forum for the exchange of the latest findings in erythroid biology; (2) Facilitate translation of basic science discoveries to new therapeutics; (3) Foster interdisciplinary exchange by bringing together researchers from all aspects of erythroid biology; (4) Encourage the next generation of investigators and leaders in the field and related scientific realms. The Red Cells GRC has a long history of showcasing innovative cutting-edge research into erythroid biology. Remarkably, many of these results have proven to become widely applicable to all areas of biology and medicine. The success of this meeting is due to the informal GRC atmosphere that promotes social and intellectual interactions that lead to novel interdisciplinary collaborations. The Red Cells GRC brings together a wide-range group of researchers from academia, government and industry at all levels of expertise from trainees to senior investigators. It provides a unique environment to discuss research and opportunities for trainee professional development. Topics for the 2025 Red Cells GRC include developmental erythropoiesis, stem/progenitor cell biology, and translational science, which includes the use of induced pluripotent stem cells to study erythroid development. Analysis of the mechanisms that regulate normal and perturbed erythroid progenitor cell development and terminal differentiation, the interplay between iron transport and utilization and the effects of infection and inflammation of erythroid output, and updates on the unique cell biology of the erythrocyte membrane cytoskeleton will also be discussed. We will feature sessions that highlight new technologies for studying erythroid biology and gene control mechanisms involving transcription factors, epigenetics, and chromatin architecture. We will complement these sessions with discussion of emerging therapies for erythroid disorders. In addition, our distinguished keynote speaker, Dr. Stuart Orkin, Harvard University, will highlight transformative advances in the field. Overall, the Red Cells GRC serves an important mission to the NIH by promoting research into erythroid biology, which will lead to new and improved treatments for erythroid disorders, utilizing powerful erythroid systems to elucidate molecular and cellular principles, and enhancing the recruitment of new researchers in the field through support, encouragement, and exposure to innovative research and problems that will require intensive, multidisciplinary efforts in the future to solve.