When the Cell Stress Society International became South American: meeting report of the IX International Workshop on the Molecular Biology of Stress Responses

The International Workshop on the Molecular Biology of the Stress Response organized by the Cell Stress Society International was held in Porto Alegre, Brazil, on May 27–30, 2012, as part of the development of the Latin American Chapter of the Society, a superb initiative headed by Drs. Antonio De Maio and Larry Hightower. The meeting took place in the wonderful facilities of the Pontifícia Universidade do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS) and was warmly chaired by Professor Cristina Bonorino. Thirty-four invited speakers presented their work to more than 200 scientists and, even more importantly, to 150 registered students, who were the main beneficiaries of the meeting. The first day of the workshop was dedicated to an educational program for students, young investigators, and participants who were unfamiliar with the field of molecular chaperones and the stress response. Speakers in this pre-workshop were Dr. Harm Kampinga, Dr. Lea Sistonen, Dr. Larry Hightower, Dr. Ivor Benjamin, Dr. Daniel Ciocca, and Dr. Linda Hendershot. Then, the scientific sessions discussed below followed.