The 7th Transgenic Technology meeting: debut for “down under” (http://www.tasq.uq.edu.au/TT2007)

The 7th Transgenic Technology meeting was held in Brisbane, Australia on February 12–14, 2007. Not only did this gathering mark a milestone as it was hosted outside the European continent for the first time, but also because it was the initial meeting to be held on behalf of the new International Society for Transgenic Technologies (ISTT, ). As in previous years, the topics were aimed towards both a scientific as well as a technical audience. The subjects covered a wide range of cutting edge applications in the field of genetic modifications in animal models, with the focus on (but by no means limited to) mice. True to the meetings tradition, a large emphasis was also laid on discussions about the management of transgenic production units. With the beautiful Australian sun shining over the venue, and a large number of exceptional speakers, this was a most pleasant and informative conference.     

TT2013 meeting report: the Transgenic Technology meeting visits Asia for the first time

The 11th Transgenic Technology meeting was held in Guangzhou, China on 25th–27th February 2013. Over 300 scientists and students from round the world gathered to hear the latest developments in the technologies underpinning the creation of transgenic and knockout animals and their application to biological sciences in areas such as the modeling human diseases and biotechnology. As well as informative presentations from leading researchers in the field, an excellent selection of short talks selected from abstracts and posters, attendees were also treated to an inspiring talk from Allan Bradley who was awarded the 9th International Society of Transgenic Technologies Prize for outstanding contributions to the field of transgenic technologies.     

Meeting after meeting: 20 years of discoveries by the members of the Exocytosis–Endocytosis Club

Twenty years ago, a group of French cell biologists merged two scientific clubs with the aim of bringing together researchers in the fields of Endocytosis and Exocytosis. Founded in 1997, the first annual meeting of the Exocytosis Club was held in 1998. The Endocytosis Club held quarterly meetings from its founding in 1999. The first joint annual meeting of the Exocytosis–Endocytosis Club took place in Paris in April, 2001. What started as a modest gathering of enthusiastic scientists working in the field of cell trafficking has gone from strength to strength, rapidly becoming an unmissable yearly meeting, vividly demonstrating the high quality of science performed in our community and beyond. On the occasion of the 20th meeting of our club, we want to provide historic insight into the fields of exocytosis and endocytosis, and by extension, to subcellular trafficking, highlighting how French scientists have contributed to major advances in these fields. Today, the Exocytosis–Endocytosis Club represents a vibrant and friendly community that will hold its 20th meeting at the Presqu'Ile de Giens, near Toulon in the South of France, on May 11–13, 2017.     

CCP11 group meeting - towards the functional analysis of microarrays

The CCP11 project [2] aims to foster bioinformatics in the UK through conferences, workshops and the provision of Web resources. In March 2002, CCP11 held a meeting in Manchester, UK, on the functional analysis of microarrays. This was part of Manchester BioinformaticsWeek-three consecutive short bioinformatics meetings held in the attractive setting of the Chancellor's Conference Centre at the University of Manchester. The other meetings in the series were a workshop on ontologies and the 12th Annual MASAMB (Mathematical and Statistical Aspects of Molecular Biology) Conference. Many delegates were able to attend more than one meeting, which led to a useful cross-fertilization of ideas across the bioinformatics community. The CCP11 meeting shared with MASAMB a strong emphasis on the statistical analysis and interpretation of data-most often image intensity data.     

Meeting report from the first meetings of the Computational Modeling in Biology Network (COMBINE)

The Computational Modeling in Biology Network (COMBINE), is an initiative to coordinate the development of the various community standards and formats in computational systems biology and related fields. This report summarizes the activities pursued at the first annual COMBINE meeting held in Edinburgh on October 6-9 2010 and the first HARMONY hackathon, held in New York on April 18-22 2011. The first of those meetings hosted 81 attendees. Discussions covered both official COMBINE standards-(BioPAX, SBGN and SBML), as well as emerging efforts and interoperability between different formats. The second meeting, oriented towards software developers, welcomed 59 participants and witnessed many technical discussions, development of improved standards support in community software systems and conversion between the standards. Both meetings were resounding successes and showed that the field is now mature enough to develop representation formats and related standards in a coordinated manner.     

9th transgenic technology meeting (TT2010) in Berlin,Germany: a meeting report

The first Transgenic Technology (TT) Meeting was organized in 1999 by Johannes Wilbertz, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden as a regional meeting. The TT Meetings continued in this way, constantly gathering additional practitioners of transgenic methodologies until the breakthrough in 2005 when the 6th TT Meeting in Barcelona, Spain, hosted by Lluis Montoliu (Centro Nacional de Biotecnologia, Madrid, Spain), generated the momentum to establish the International Society for Transgenic Technologies (ISTT). Since 2006, the ISTT has continued to promote the TT Meetings and provide its membership with a forum to discuss best practices and new methods in the field. The TT2010 Meeting was held at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (Berlin, Germany). Participation at the TT2010 Meeting exceeded the registration capacity and set a new attendance record. Session topics included methods for the generation of rat and mouse models of human disease, fundamental and advanced topics in rodent embryonic stem cells, and the newest transgenic technologies. Short presentations from selected abstracts were of especial interest. Roundtable discussions on transgenic facility establishment and cryoarchiving of mouse lines were favorably received. Students, technical staff, and professors participated in numerous discussions and came away with practical methods and new ideas for research.     

The great host‐pathogen war: U.K. Cellular microbiology meeting 2020

In 2019 we started a new annual meeting, aimed at bringing together researchers from across the United Kingdom studying cellular microbiology and the cell biology of host‐pathogen interactions. In contrast to large glamourous meetings, featuring the great and the good from across the world, we wanted to create a forum for early career researchers to present their work and enjoy lively discussion. In particular, we hope that focussing on making the meeting accessible, affordable, and informal would help integrate and build the U.K. community working on this exciting topic.     

In vitro toxicity: mechanisms,alternatives and validation - a report from the 19th annual scientific meeting of the Scandinavian Society for Cell Toxicology

The Scandinavian Society for Cell Toxicology (SSCT) has arranged annual scientific meetings since 1983. These workshops were the forum for the Multicentre Evaluation of In Vitro Cytotoxicity (MEIC) programme. Along with the MEIC programme, which was completed in 1998, a wide range of topics relating to cytotoxicity have been discussed. The meetings have also given an opportunity for graduate students and young scientists to present their work to an international audience. At the same time, experts in the fields of in vitro toxicity have been invited as speakers. The 19th SSCT scientific meeting, which was held at S?rup Manor in Ringsted, Denmark, was no exception. The meeting consisted of four sessions: mechanisms of toxicity; environmental toxicological testing; alternatives to animal experiments; and validation of in vitro tests.     

6th Transgenic Technology Meeting Report (http://www.cnb.uam.es/~tt2005)

The 6th Transgenic Technology Meeting was held in Barcelona, September 2005. The meeting in Barcelona was one of the largest in TTM series since its inception in Stockholm in 1999. Sessions held included topics on new transgenics technologies; the generation and breeding of transgenics and knockout mice; functional genomics; analysis of genetically modified mice and mouse genetics and development.     

History of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology

Scientists studying diseases of invertebrates in the USA, Europe, and Asia began to meet at international congresses in the 1950s and early 1960s, and soon recognized that they needed both a society and a journal where their common interests could be discussed and their findings presented. Edward A. Steinhaus played a major role in bringing together scientists from across the globe with common interests in these diseases. As a consequence, the Journal of Invertebrate Pathology (then Journal of Insect Pathology) was initiated in 1959 and Steinhaus became its first editor. Along with Albert Sparks he organized a meeting at Seattle, Washington in 1967 that led to the founding of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology with Steinhaus as its first President. The Society held its first meeting at Ohio State University in 1968, and has continued to meet annually. The Society has instituted a Founder's Lecture series, graduate student awards, and Divisions of Microbial Control, Microsporidia, Bacteriology, Fungi, Viruses, and Nematodes. Members enjoy several social functions at meetings as well as symposia, submitted papers, and poster sessions. The Society for Invertebrate Pathology is a truly international organization which to date has held meetings in 13 countries and 14 US states, usually attended by members from at least 20 countries.     

A synopsis of the 3rd annual Cancer Proteomics Conference

The 3rd annual 'Cancer Proteomics Conference', organized by Select Biosciences (Sudbury, UK), was held in Berlin, Germany, 8-9 June 2010. With the aim of strengthening the links between scientists from Europe, as well as international investigators worldwide, more than 200 delegates attended, representing various countries. The Conference covered many topics in proteomics, including the use of proteomics for cancer therapeutic development, diagnostic applications, biomarker discovery, post-translational modifications and clinical proteomics, as well as new proteomic technologies, which may facilitate future progress. One distinct feature of this meeting was that the Conference was co-located with the 'Advances in Antibody and Peptide Therapeutics' meeting. Delegates had access to both meetings, allowing for enhanced interaction among investigators from the closely linked fields of research.     

Correlates of attendance at community engagement meetings held in advance of bio-behavioral research studies: A longitudinal,sociocentric social network study in rural Uganda

BackgroundCommunity engagement is central to the conduct of health-related research studies as a way to determine priorities, inform study design and implementation, increase recruitment and retention, build relationships, and ensure that research meets the goals of the community. Community sensitization meetings, a form of community engagement, are often held prior to the initiation of research studies to provide information about upcoming study activities and resolve concerns in consultation with potential participants. This study estimated demographic, health, economic, and social network correlates of attendance at community sensitization meetings held in advance of a whole-population, combined behavioral, and biomedical research study in rural Uganda.Methods and findingsResearch assistants collected survey data from 1,630 adults participating in an ongoing sociocentric social network cohort study conducted in a rural region of southwestern Uganda. These community survey data, collected between 2016 and 2018, were linked to attendance logs from community sensitization meetings held in 2018 and 2019 before the subsequent community survey and community health fair. Of all participants, 264 (16%) attended a community sensitization meeting before the community survey, 464 (28%) attended a meeting before the community health fair, 558 (34%) attended a meeting before either study activity (survey or health fair), and 170 (10%) attended a meeting before both study activities (survey and health fair). Using multivariable Poisson regression models, we estimated correlates of attendance at community sensitization meetings. Attendance was more likely among study participants who were women (adjusted relative risk [ARR]_{health fair} = 1.71, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.32 to 2.21, p < 0.001), older age (ARR_survey = 1.02 per year, 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.02, p < 0.001; ARR_{health fair} = 1.02 per year, 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.02, p < 0.001), married (ARR_survey = 1.74, 95% CI, 1.29 to 2.35, p < 0.001; ARR_{health fair} = 1.41, 95% CI, 1.13 to 1.76, p = 0.002), and members of more community groups (ARR_survey = 1.26 per group, 95% CI, 1.10 to 1.44, p = 0.001; ARR_{health fair} = 1.26 per group, 95% CI, 1.12 to 1.43, p < 0.001). Attendance was less likely among study participants who lived farther from meeting locations (ARR_survey = 0.54 per kilometer, 95% CI, 0.30 to 0.97, p = 0.041; ARR_{health fair} = 0.57 per kilometer, 95% CI, 0.38 to 0.86, p = 0.007). Leveraging the cohort’s sociocentric design, social network analyses suggested that information conveyed during community sensitization meetings could reach a broader group of potential study participants through attendees’ social network and household connections. Study limitations include lack of detailed data on reasons for attendance/nonattendance at community sensitization meetings; achieving a representative sample of community members was not an explicit aim of the study; and generalizability may not extend beyond this study setting.ConclusionsIn this longitudinal, sociocentric social network study conducted in rural Uganda, we observed that older age, female sex, being married, membership in more community groups, and geographical proximity to meeting locations were correlated with attendance at community sensitization meetings held in advance of bio-behavioral research activities. Information conveyed during meetings could have reached a broader portion of the population through attendees’ social network and household connections. To ensure broader input and potentially increase participation in health-related research studies, the dissemination of research-related information through community sensitization meetings may need to target members of underrepresented groups.

In a social network cohort study, Emily Satinsky and colleagues estimate demographic, health, economic and social network factor associated with attendance at community sensitization meetings held in advance of participation in health-related research studies in rural Uganda.     

mAbs’s communication networks

Since its start in 2009, mAbs has actively contributed to the communication networks among our readers. One way we achieve this is by publishing highly detailed reports of numerous meetings, conferences, summits, forums and congresses focused on antibody research and development (R&D) that are held in the US and Europe. The meetings serve critical informational and educational functions and are valuable networking opportunities, and mAbs is pleased to serve the antibody community by providing published records of the proceedings. PDFs of the meeting reports are generously made open access by the publisher of mAbs.     

The third Central and Eastern European Proteomic conference

The third Central and Eastern European Proteomic Conference was held at Hotel Benzcur, Budapest, Hungary, from the 6–9 October 2009. The meeting was the third in a series of proteomic conferences to be held in this region of Europe, with the key aim of strengthening the links with scientists from Central and Eastern Europe, as well as international groups worldwide. It was attended by more than 150 delegates from various countries and many proteomic topics, including biomarker discovery, post-translational modifications, clinical proteomics, as well as new proteomic technologies, which may facilitate future progress, were discussed over the 3 days.     

A tale of two machines: a review of the BLAST meeting,Tucson, AZ, 20–24 January 2013

Since its inception, Bacterial Locomotion and Signal Transduction (BLAST) meetings have been the place to exchange and share the latest developments in the field of bacterial signal transduction and motility. At the 12th BLAST meeting, held last January in Tucson, AZ, researchers from all over the world met to report and discuss progress in diverse aspects of the field. The majority of these advances, however, came at the level of atomic level structures and their associated mechanisms. This was especially true of the biological machines that sense and respond to environmental changes.     

Alpine forest genomics network (AForGeN): a report of the first annual meeting

The Alpine Forest Genomics Network was formed in 2011 and held its first annual meeting on June 24–26, 2012, in the Natural Park Adamello Brenta in Trentino Region, Italy. The meeting was attended by 30 researchers from the alpine region of Europe and had two primary goals: (1) for researchers to introduce each other to current and planned research activities in forest landscape genomics and (2) to develop a strategic vision for the network. A steering committee was elected and will develop a white paper over the next year. The next annual meeting will be held in Austria in June 2013.     

Special-interest subgroups at the ASCB. Proceedings from the American Society for Cell Biology 38th annual meeting. San Francisco, California, USA. 12-16 December 1998

The annual meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) is a large and diverse gathering. At last year's meeting, there were over 8000 attendees, and the topics discussed covered many areas of cell biology. It would be impossible to cover the entire meeting within a trends in CELL BIOLOGY report, so instead we are focusing on an aspect of it that provided some of the most interesting and fruitful discussions. On Saturday afternoon, before the main symposia began, there were 11 special-interest subgroup meetings. The atmosphere at these meetings was informal, and they encouraged open and frank discussion of data and issues. This report provides a brief summary of the discussions at seven of the special-interest subgroup meetings.     

Cardiac mechano-electric feedback: past,present, and prospect

Mechanical effects on heart rhythm have been known to the clinical community for well over a century, and documented cases include both arrhythmogenic and pro-rhythmic consequences of mechanical stimulation. The intracardiac pathway that leads from changes in the cardiac mechanical environment to altered electrical activity is referred to as mechano-electric feedback (MEF). Fundamental research into the mechanisms underlying cardiac MEF is ‘engineering-intensive’, and much of the current insight would have been impossible without the introduction of novel techniques for the study of isolated cardiac cells.

Clinical and basic research into MEF have developed over different time scales, often uninformed of each other, and utilizing disparate concepts and terminology. Bridging the gap between the two domains is not straightforward, as physicians and scientists tend to publish in different journals and attend different meetings. There is, however, a growing interest in ‘re-uniting’ the clinic and basic MEF research, as witnessed by an increasing number of dedicated journal issues and international meetings, including events hosted by major European and American professional organisations such as the ESC and NASPE. Last year alone saw an international workshop on Cardiac MEF & Arrhythmias at Oxford, as well as dedicated sessions at NASPE's 23rd annual meeting in San Diego, CardioStim 2002 in Nice, and the UK Physiological Society meeting in Leeds.

This volume of Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology incorporates clinical and basic science results, and it is fitting that its publication coincides with a special session on cardiac MEF at the 2003 meeting of NASPE.     

Meeting review: 2002 O'Reilly Bioinformatics Technology Conference

At the end of January I travelled to the States to speak at and attend the first O'Reilly Bioinformatics Technology Conference [14]. It was a large, well-organized and diverse meeting with an interesting history. Although the meeting was not a typical academic conference, its style will, I am sure, become more typical of meetings in both biological and computational sciences.Speakers at the event included prominent bioinformatics researchers such as Ewan Birney, Terry Gaasterland and Lincoln Stein; authors and leaders in the open source programming community like Damian Conway and Nat Torkington; and representatives from several publishing companies including the Nature Publishing Group, Current Science Group and the President of O'Reilly himself, Tim O'Reilly. There were presentations, tutorials, debates, quizzes and even a 'jam session' for musical bioinformaticists.     

From proteins to systems: the British Society for Proteomics Research (BSPR) meeting 2005

This report describes the highlights of the second scientific meeting of the British Society for Proteome Research (BSPR), jointly organised with the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI), and held at The Genome Centre, Cambridge UK in July 2005. The theme of the meeting was "From Proteins to Systems" covering many diverse aspects of proteomics, bioinformatics and systems biology.