Conference Description
The 2022 Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Microbial Toxins and Pathogenicity and its companion Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) will feature research on the fundamental mechanisms of bacterial pathogenesis. This biennial international conference is regarded by the microbial pathogenesis community as our premier venue for intellectual exchange. To be held July 10-15 at the Waterville Valley Resort in New Hampshire, the conference is led by chair Heran Darwin, PhD and Vice-chair Mary O'Riordan, PhD. Nine sessions will feature over 30 invited speakers, ranging in career stage, nationality, and discipline. Topics will include bacterial toxins, virulence regulation, pathogen evolution and physiology, and immune detection and responses to invading microbes. Poster sessions will promote extended discussions between colleagues within and across disciplines. To integrate and develop the next generation of scientists in our field, the GRC will be preceded by a GRS. Together the GRS and GRC promise to provide an exceptional forum for a diverse population of scientists to learn about cutting edge discoveries in the field, and consider and challenge the current paradigms, barriers and opportunities to advancing knowledge of molecular mechanisms of microbial infection.
To promote diversity among participants (ethnic diversity; inclusion of international participants or participants from smaller schools) a limited number of travel fellowships will be available to attend the meeting. To apply for the fellowship you must first apply and be accepted to the GRC, then apply to the meeting chair for the fellowship (send CV and short note of how you would contribute to diversity).
The topics, speakers, and discussion leaders for the conference sessions are displayed below. The conference chair is currently developing their detailed program, which will include the complete meeting schedule, as well as the talk titles for all speakers. The detailed program will be available by March 10, 2022. Please check back for updates.
Keynote Session: Virulence Regulation During Infections
Discussion Leaders
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Andrew Darwin (New York University School of Medicine, USA)
Speakers
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Virginia Miller (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA)
Bacterial Toxins: Structure, Function and Outcome
Discussion Leaders
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Victor Torres (New York University School of Medicine, USA)
Speakers
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Borden Lacy (Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, USA)
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Isaac Chiu (Harvard Medical School, USA)
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Jeongmin Song (Cornell University, USA)
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John Mekalanos (Harvard Medical School, USA)
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Andreas Peschel (University of Tübingen, Germany)
Toxic Defense Mechanisms
Discussion Leaders
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Peggy Cotter (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA)
Speakers
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Marek Basler (University of Basel, Switzerland)
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Christopher Hayes (University of California, Santa Barbara, USA)
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Alecia Septer (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA)
Subverting Host Functions with Bacterial Toxins and Effectors
Discussion Leaders
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Eric Skaar (Vanderbilt University Medical Center, USA)
Speakers
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Jim Cassat (Vanderbilt University Medical Center, USA)
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Sophie Helaine (Harvard Medical School, USA)
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Ralph Isberg (Tufts University School of Medicine, USA)
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Olivier Neyrolles (Institute of Pharmacology and Structural Biology, France)
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ZhaoQing Luo (Purdue University, USA)
Regulation of Genes and Proteins in Pathogens
Discussion Leaders
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Raphael Valdivia (Duke University, USA)
Speakers
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Petra Dersch (University of Münster, Germany)
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Aimee Shen (Tufts University School of Medicine, USA)
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Joshua Woodward (University of Washington, USA)
Intracellular Problems and Solutions
Discussion Leaders
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Joanne Engel (University of California, San Francisco, USA)
Speakers
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Isabelle Derré (University of Virginia, USA)
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Marcia Goldberg (Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School, USA)
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Rebecca Lamason (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA)
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Renee Tsolis (University of California, Davis, USA)
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Sarah Stanley (University of California, Berkeley, USA)
Evolution of Virulence Factors
Discussion Leaders
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Manuela Raffatellu (University of California, San Diego, USA)
Speakers
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Ankur Dalia (Indiana University, USA)
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Tamara O'Connor (Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, USA)
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Matthew Waldor (Brigham and Women's Hospital / Harvard University, USA)
Detection and Response to Bacterial Infections
Discussion Leaders
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Russell Vance (University of California, Berkeley, USA)
Speakers
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Ivan Dikic (Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany)
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Katrin Mayer-Barber (National Institutes of Health, USA)
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Edward Miao (Duke University, USA)
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Anna Tischler (University of Minnesota, USA)
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Sebastian Winter (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, USA)
Keynote Session: Innate Sensing of Pathogens
Discussion Leaders
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Kim Orth (Howard Hughes Medical Institute / University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, USA)
Speakers
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Feng Shao (National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing, China)
The GRC Power Hour™
Organizer:
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Drusilla Burns (Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, FDA, USA)
