The 2009 Gordon Conference on Cartilage Biology and Pathology will present cutting-edge research on the molecular and cellular aspects of cartilage formation, maintenance, repair and disease. Topics for discussion have been selected with a view to balance translational and basic research and stimulate work related to repair, regeneration and therapeutic approaches for major diseases of cartilage. The Conference program covers areas of active research and includes progress in understanding cartilage development and evolution, cartilage signaling and control mechanisms, genetic mechanisms of cartilage disease, molecular structure of cartilage matrix proteins, mechanobiological mechanisms in cartilage, degenerative cartilage disorders, and repair, regeneration and tissue engineering strategies in disorders of cartilage. A special keynote session will feature a discussion of biomechanical control mechanisms of cellular differentiation and behavior and autoimmune mechanisms in arthritis. The last session of the meeting will be devoted to research that defines new directions, challenges and opportunities.

Discussion leaders and invited speakers, representing a variety of scientific disciplines, are encouraged to present new, cutting edge science, keep reviews of published data short and emphasize new data and ideas. The Conference will provide opportunities for new investigators, postdoctoral trainees and graduate students to present their work in poster sessions and exchange ideas with experienced investigators who are at the forefront in their fields. The programmed discussion sessions will include short talks selected from submitted poster abstracts. The collegial atmosphere and opportunities for informal gatherings in the afternoons and evenings will promote brainstorming around new and old scientific problems and set the stage for the kind of cross-disciplinary collaborations that are needed to move research on cartilage forward and in new directions.