Expanding the Calcium Signaling Toolkit Across Time and Space

Calcium signaling is one of the most fundamental and ubiquitous mechanisms used by cells to respond to internal and external stimuli and to maintain homeostasis. During a cell’s lifetime, calcium signaling touches on nearly every cellular process including the ability to divide, to move, to coordinate electrocommunication from one cell to another, and to coordinate responses within a whole organ and between organs. Not surprisingly, unresolved dysregulation to calcium signaling underlies many human diseases. Moreover, the factors that regulate and respond to calcium signals such as gene expression, metabolic control, and cellular repair represent a plethora of unrecognized therapeutic targets. The overall objective of the 2026 Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Calcium Signaling is to bring together the world’s leading experts to share their latest discoveries, new and innovative experimental tools, and essential insights into the diverse roles of calcium signaling as they apply to human health and disease. The overarching theme of the meeting is “Expanding the calcium signaling toolkit across time and space”. This theme encompasses our objectives to both expand our understanding of the mechanistic “toolkit” that cells use to regulate calcium signaling, and the experimental “toolkit” available to investigators to decipher complex calcium signaling mechanisms ranging from single cell organisms to whole organ systems. The meeting will include key stakeholders from academia and industry, and participants will range from graduate students and postdoctoral trainees to established and highly experienced principal investigators. The new discoveries that are presented and the discussions that they spur will help shape the future of the calcium signaling field, and bring us closer to the ultimate goal of developing new human disease interventions that target calcium signaling mechanisms.