Conference: 2024 Biomineralization Gordon Research Conference and Seminar

Non-technical Abstract The 2024 Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Biomineralization (‘Revealing the Unifying Principles of Biomineralization through Model Systems’) and the associated Gordon Research Seminar (GRS: ‘Mineralization Pathways and Principles’) are being held at Colby Sawyer College in New London, New Hampshire on August 3-4 and 4-9, 2024, respectively. These conferences will bring together early career and established scientists from around the globe with multidisciplinary backgrounds and diverse expertise to bridge the relevant scientific disciplines required for understanding the formation, function, environmental impact, and applications of biominerals. Together the GRC and GRS will create a supportive and open community that fosters fruitful interactions among graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and early career investigators with established scientists. To this end, the conference brings together scientists from academia, national laboratories, and industry to discuss the latest advances and challenges in Biomineralization. Technical Abstract With support from the Biomaterials program, the organizers of the 2024 Gordon Research Seminar and Conference on Biomineralization will provide scholarships for students and postdoctoral to participate in the conference and join the "Biomineralization" community. A particular focus of the conference will be on unveiling fundamental biomineralization mechanisms that have been preserved through evolutionary times and understand how they have been adapted to fulfill a multitude of biological functions in a large variety of organisms. This year, the conference will address three specific areas: (i) identifying universal scientific principles and mechanisms that are common to biomineralization processes in evolutionary diverse organisms, (ii) identifying the most advanced in vitro and in vivo model systems, as well as state-of-the-art analytical technologies to study biomineralization mechanisms across scales, and (iii) exploring scientific principles for the purpose of translational research. Oral sessions will highlight new developments studying the main biominerals (Ca-carbonates, Ca-phosphates, SiO2, Fe3O4), from single-celled prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms to increasingly complex multicellular invertebrates and finally vertebrate animals and humans. 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.