Functional genomics for development and disease of mesodermal organ systems
| The Cells into Organs network is organising a meeting on "Tissue Specification and Organogenesis" at the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, Portugal, on the 4th-6th February 2009. The upcoming meeting, will focus on cellular and molecular aspects of tissue specification, addressing questions of cell fate determination, tissue development and morphogenesis. Speakers include members of the network and invited speakers from outside. All speakers have confirmed attendance (see Programme). Short talks will be given by participants, selected on the basis of their abstracts, by the scientific organising board. The meeting will be relatively small (< 300 participants) with opportunities for informal discussion. Participants are expected to present a poster. Graduate students and postdocs are encouraged to attend. |
| The project aims to elucidate molecular and cellular processes underlying specification and differentiation of mesodermally derived organ systems. This knowledge provides the basis for organ and tissue engineering and will enable us to identify genes which function in building a specific organ or in a particular aspect of embryogenesis. The brochure of Cells into Organs is now available! |
Coordinating and integrating the activities in this network is being done in several ways. Formally through management activities as Joint Ph.D. projects, arrangements for the sharing resources between the network members and cutting out of duplication of research. But more informal tools are just as important. Building trust by working together, meeting eachother and creating a community, are essential for the durable integration of the network. Regular meetings (annual meetings, symposia), training activities (workshops) and even dissemination activities (Science Cafés, lectures, etc) are forging an integrated network. The proof of the integration lies in the collaborative projects.
This project is supported through Priority 1 (Life Sciences, Genomics and Biotechnology for Health) of European Union's FP6, Contract number: LSHM-CT-2003-504468 for 5 years from the 1st April 2004 and co-ordinated by Dr. Antony John Durston from the Institute of Biology in Leiden.
