Conference: 2023 Developmental Biology GRC and GRS Developmental Origin of Form and Function

The Gordon Research Seminar and Conference (GRS and GRC) on Developmental Biology will be held from June 24-25 and 25-30, 2023, respectively at Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts. The conference will bring together scientists across various career stages and identities to discuss and advance the frontiers of science in the field of developmental biology. GRS is a trainee specific mini meeting held immediately before the GRC and provides a platform for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to network and openly discuss their research and ideas in a highly stimulating and non-intimidating environment; the opportunities from this setting for early career scientists leads to long term collaborations and enriches their scientific experience paving the way for a lifetime of scientific success. The GRS/GRC will host talks from invited speakers and speakers chosen from submitted abstracts, poster sessions and afternoon free time to facilitate informal discussions and interactions. Both GRS and GRC requires platform speakers and poster presenters to discuss unpublished work ensuring that the attendees share fresh ideas, innovations, and the latest research with each other – thus enabling seamless incorporation of new and emerging technologies and concepts empowering rapid forward movement of science. The meeting will include a power hour discussion on challenges women face in science and dinner table discussions on topics such as dealing with impostor syndrome in science, impact of COVID-19 on scientific communication, and more thus providing space to discuss various facets of scientific research and responsibility. Understanding how an organism is built and coordinates its mechanical design with physiological functions requires interdisciplinary research spanning across diverse fields and organisms. To this end, the meeting will feature speakers from varied disciplines such as embryology, biochemistry, genetics, computational biology, physics, mathematics and engineering, and research using various invertebrate and vertebrate organisms as well as plants. Topics will cover various aspects of developmental biology such as metabolic fluxes in development, transgenerational inheritance, gene regulation, dynamics of signalling, regeneration, tissue mechanics and developmental diseases. The GRS will especially focus on quantitative approaches to studying development at different spatial-temporal scales using new techniques and technologies. Rapid advances and application of varied range of approaches requires consistent communication and exchange of ideas across leaders with diverse expertise. Importantly, the GRS and GRC will also include important sections devoted to addressing barriers women face in science and dealing with imposter syndrome in science. This will provide opportunities for thoughtful discussion and idea generation for ways to help better the scientific community. GRS and GRC will provide a platform for just that and will help accelerate progress and advance the mechanistic interrogation of developmental processes. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.