If you wish to receive information about any of the conferences list
below, please contact:
Cambridge Symposia
1037 Chestnut Street
Newton Upper Falls, MA 02164
USA
Phone: 617-630-1399
Fax: 617-630-1395
E-mail: symposia at cambridge.orghttp://www.cambridge.org/symposia/
EMERGING CLINICAL APPLICATIONS OF FIBRIN SEALANT
Organizing Committee: William Drohan, American Red Cross, Martin
MacPhee, American Red Cross, Uri Martinowitz, National Hemophilia
Center, Michael O’Leary, U.S. Navy Marine Corps., and Tom Lynch, Food
and Drug Administration
March 7-10, 1997
Princess Resort, San Diego, California
GENETIC APPROACHES TO BREAST AND PROSTATE CANCER
Organizers: Marc E. Lippman, Georgetown University, Robert B.
Dickson, Georgetown University, and John T. Isaacs, Johns Hopkins
University
March 22-28, 1997
Granlibakken Resort, Lake Tahoe, California
Genetic approaches to two of the most prevalent of cancers - breast
and prostate - have yielded profound insights in the past months.
While the two diseases have been mechanistically linked in the past
due to their dependence on sex steroid hormones, new links are now
being forged based on their genetics of onset and progression. This
meeting will bring together international authorities on new
methodology in assessment of genetic changes in the human cancers and
development of disease - specific models in transgenic animals. In
addition, the molecular roles of specific amplifications and mutation
of relevant oncogenes and loss of relevant suppressor genes will be
examined. The meeting will also present the latest discoveries of
familial cancer genes, such as BRCA-1 and BRCA-2 and explore the
rapidly advancing area of genetic counseling for individuals and
families carrying these genes.
UNSTABLE TRIPLETS, MICROSATELLITES, AND HUMAN DISEASE
Organizers: Jack Griffith, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill,
Robert Wells, Texas A&M University and David Nelson, Baylor College of
Medicine
March 31 - April 6, 1997
Hilton of Santa Fe, Santa Fe, New Mexico
This is a particularly propitious time for such a meeting, since
seldom have a family of diseases cut across such a wide spectrum of
research disciplines that include Human Genetics, DNA Structure and
Replication, CA Repeat and Telomere Biology and the Triplet diseases
themselves. The organizers have worked hard to identify a
distinguished group of speakers. The criteria for invitation were
that the speakers be both the leaders in their respective fields, and
be able to convey to those from different disciplines where they
believe research needs to be addressed for the future.
TNF-a ANTAGONISTS: MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES, SOLUBLE RECEPTORS,
THALIDOMIDE AND OTHER NOVEL APPROACHES”
Organizers: Gilla Kaplan, Rockefeller University, Carol Nacy,
EntreMed Inc., and Victoria Freedman, Rockefeller University
April 13-18, 1997
Hilton of Santa Fe, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Tumor necrosis factor - alpha (TNF-a), a proinflammatory cytokine
produced by monocytes and other immune cells in response to infectious
organisms as well as other immune stimuli, has been shown to play a
central role in the protective cellular immune response. However, in
addition to its positive role, TNF-a has been implicated as a
significant contributor to the pathology associated with the
inflammatory cascade. Symptoms such as fever, wasting, anorexia and
tissue damage, which are observed in many diseases, as well as the
more acute shock syndromes, are associated with TNF-a production.
This cytokine may also exacerbate disease progression in HIV-1
infected individuals. For all of these reasons, increasing attention
has been focused on strategies for selective inhibition of TNF-a
production during disease.
A number of biologically active molecules have been shown to
selectively target TNF-a. These include anti-TNF- a monoclonal
antibodies, soluble TNF-a receptors, and enzymes which cleave the
molecule or prevent its action. In addition, a family of small
molecular weight drugs derived from thalidomide have been identified
as TNF-a inhibitors and are currently the subject of intensive
investigation. Finally, endogenous regulatory pathways of TNF-a are
under study, and specific cytokines which probably regulate TNF-a in
vivo are the focus of much interest. All of these antagonists of
TNF-a represent a new approach to disease management through
modulation of the host immune response.
This meeting aims to bring together experts in basic cell biology,
immunology, therapeutics and clinical management, and rational drug
development, to discuss recent progress, mechanism of action, and
pharmacology of novel antagonists with far reaching applications to a
host of major human diseases and disorders ranging from AIDS and TB to
cancer and autoimmune diseases”
NUCLEAR STRUCTURE-GENE EXPRESSION INTERRELATIONSHIPS
Organizers: Gary Stein, University of Massachusetts Medical Center,
Gordon Hager, National Institutes of Health, and Ronald Berezney,
SUNY-Buffalo
May 16-22, 1997
Bolton Valley Resort, Bolton Valley, Vermont
ADVANCES IN CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE, RESEARCH AND THERAPEUTICS
Organizers: Giora Z. Feuerstein, SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals
and Michael B. Fowler, Stanford University School of Medicine
May 27-31, 1997
Granlibakken Resort, Lake Tahoe, California
Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) affects over 3 million Americans and is
growing in incidence, prevalence and hospitalization in the elderly.
In spite of multipharmacology approved for chronic treatment of CHF
(diuretics, digitals, ACE inhibitors and vasodilators) the mortality
rate continues to be very high (about 50%/5 years). Recently, the FDA
has halted clinical trials with carvedilol, a multiple action
vasodilating b-blocker and antioxidant due to remarkable positive
outcome. The carvedilol CHF studies indicate the possibility of
substantial improvement of current therapy and highlight the need for
better understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of cardiac
remodeling in the progression and deterioration of CHF patients. The
proposed conference aims to review and analyze the pathomechanisms of
CHF with new insights in the genomic aspects of the disease, and the
new role carvedilol and potentially other drugs now play in management
of CHF patients.
1997 NATURE AMERICA CONFERENCE ADMINISTERED BY CAMBRIDGE SYMPOSIA
The Fifth International Nature Genetics’ Conference
FUNCTIONAL GENOMICS: FROM GENES TO DRUGS
April 17-18, 1997
Washington Court Hotel, Washington, D.C.
AS the quest to divine the full sequence of the human genome rapidly
approaches fruition, so too does a new era in human biology and the
understanding of gene function. Scientists are already celebrating
the completion of the yeast genome project and the sequence of several
important microorganisms. These discoveries are providing myriad new
opportunities for analyzing gene function and evolution, and provide a
tantalizing glimpse of the opportunities that will exist in the future
of human genetic research. In addition to providing a boon in
understanding gene function, these discoveries will have profound
implications for the fields of genetic diagnostics and therapeutics.
Indeed, gene-based discoveries are already providing an entirely new
approach to pharmaceutical drug development, and large pharmaceutical
corporations and independent genomics companies are racing to harness
the fruits of the genome project into the development of novel
therapeutic products.
Functional Genomics: From genes to drugs — the fifth international
Nature Genetics conference, being held in conjunction with Cambridge
Symposia — represents a timely opportunity to analyse the cutting edge
of human genomic research and its implications for understanding gene
function and initiating drug discovery. Subjects covered will include
the current state of the genome project in humans and model organisms;
methods of analysing raw DNA sequence information; new experimental
approaches to dissect gene function; the impact of new technologies on
genetic diagnostics; and strategies for the application of new gene
discoveries to target disease. Functional Genomics: From genes to
drugs features many of the leaders in the field from both academia and
industrial settings. The conference will include presentations on
late-breaking discoveries and there will be ample time for discussion
and interaction with the speakers. The meetnig will be of interest to
a broad audience of geneticists, molecular biologists, pharmaceutical
researchers, venture capitalists and more. By reserving your place
now, you can take advantage of generous discounted registration rates.
Nature Genetics and Cambridge Symposia look forward to welcoming you
to Washington D.C. and participating in one of the most exciting
conferences of 1997.
1997 FALL CONFERENCES
FUNCTIONAL GENOMICS: APPLICATION OF GENOMIC TECHNOLOGIES TO THE
UNDERSTANDING OF BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS
Organizers: Steven Clark, Genetics Institute and Eric Lander,
Whitehead Institute
October, 1997 (Exact Dates and Location to be Announced)
Genome projects have been generating increasing quantities of gene and
genome sequence information at an ever increasing pace. Complete
sequences are available for a number of microbial genomes as well as
for the yeast, S. cerevisiae. Information on other model organisms
continues to accumulate and the human genome sequencing effort is
actually ahead of schedule. As knowledge of gene sequences continues
to grow, scientists eager to understand the underlying mechanisms of
biological processes are faced with the exciting challenge of using
this information and coupling it with new technologies to gain
important insights into living systems.
This meeting will bring together a group of scientists to discuss how
they’ve used genomic information to elucidate the molecular basis of
biological processes. Presentations will focus on how different model
organisms and experimental technologies can be combined to design
better experiments to solve biological problems.
SPECIFICITY IN SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION
Organizers: Norbert Perrimon, Harvard Medical School and Tony Pawson,
Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute
November 16-22, 1997
Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe, Lake Tahoe, Nevada
Studies of the molecular mechanisms underlying cell growth and
differentiation in the mammalian cell have identified a number of
regulatory pathways that integrate various extracellular signals.
Many of these signal transduction pathways have also been identified
from genetic studies in invertebrates that were oriented towards the
identification of genes involved in cell fate decisions. The aim of
this meeting is to bring together developmental geneticists and
biochemists who are studying the same signaling pathways from
different perspectives. The focus will be on new pathways that are
emerging as critical to the control of cell growth and
differentiation. Recent findings on receptor tyrosine kinases, Wnt,
Hedgehogs, TGFbetas, Notch, NFkB/Ikb and JAK/STAT pathways will be the
main focus of the meeting. Discussions of the crossregulatory
interactions between these pathways will be emphasized.
