Establishing Form and Function in the Eye and Visual Brain

The Visual System Development GRC is a premier, international scientific conference focused on advancing the frontiers of science through the presentation of cutting-edge and unpublished research, prioritizing time for discussion after each talk and fostering informal interactions among scientists of all career stages. The conference program includes a diverse range of speakers and discussion leaders from institutions and organizations worldwide, concentrating on the latest developments in the field. The conference is five days long and held in a remote location to increase the sense of camaraderie and create scientific communities, with lasting collaborations and friendships. In addition to premier talks, the conference has designated time for poster sessions from individuals of all career stages, and afternoon free time and communal meals allow for informal networking opportunities with leaders in the field.

The 2024 Gordon Research Conference on Visual System Development will provide a forum for scientists investigating the genetics, genomics, and evolution of the visual system, and to share the latest and most exciting new results and innovative technologies. The goals of this meeting are to foster interactions across disciplines, stimulate new ideas and collaborations, provide a springboard into vision-related research for scientists from other fields, and mentor students and postdocs in a supportive scientific setting. This conference will also encourage greater understanding of the basic principles that drive the development and maintenance of the visual system in multiple species, with the anticipation that these findings will contribute to better treatments for ocular and other neurological diseases. The opening keynote session will feature talks from Dr. Claude Desplan of New York University and Dr. Magdalena Gotz of the University of Munich. Throughout the meeting, speakers will discuss a range of disciplines, model systems and approaches in sessions that include retinal patterning and cell fate specification, development and regeneration of retinal circuitry, central visual system development, cellular regeneration and stem cells, non-neuronal development, development and disease modeling of human and non-human primate retina, and emerging model systems and technologies for studying visual systems development. A number of poster abstracts will be selected for short talks, ensuring participation by junior investigators and the presentation of late-breaking stories. This meeting, along with the associated student/post-doctoral fellow Gordon Research Seminar (GRS), will foster interactions among students, early-career investigators, and more established scientists, supporting stimulating discussions and interactions, across diverse disciplines within the field of vision science.