The next BSMB meeting will be held in Newcastle in September (8th-9th). Please find more information in the detailed version of this post or on the meeting’s website. The flyer is available for download here.

About the meeting
Matrix signals!
Cell-matrix interactions in health & disease
David Young & Drew Rowan

Matrix is not an inert scaffold. The meeting will explore how cells sense and respond to their surrounding matrix. Cells remodel matrix which results in matrix fragments and neo-epitopes which provide a feedback loop. The meeting will cover aspects of normal and aberrant matrix degradation, receptor-mediated matrix sensing and signalling in both health and disease. Confirmed speakers include Tony Poole (New Zealand), Akiko Mammoto (USA), Suneel Apte (USA), Kim Midwood (UK), Attila Aszodi (Germany), Birgit Leitinger (UK), Wim van den Berg (Netherlands), Christoph Ballestrem (UK) and Benjamin Alman (Canada).

Interactive poster sessions and a number of short oral communications selected from the abstracts mean the meeting will cover many aspects of current matrix biology research.

A major highlight of the meeting will be the BSMB Young Investigator lecture, this year awarded to Dr Rachel Oldershaw, Newcastle University. Rachel will present her work entitled « Directed differentiation of human embryonic stems cells to chondrocytes » based upon her recent Nature Biotechnology publication.

The conference dinner will once again be held at St. James’ Park, home of Newcastle United Football club, within easy walking distance of the venue.