This is the second conference in this series.
Conference Goals
This conference will be a follow-up on "Engineering Cell Biology - Cells in Context" held in summer 2005. The focus of this conference is to bring the communities of cell biologists and bioengineers together to address the fusion of cell biology and engineering approaches to understand and exploit receptor-mediated cell-cell, cell-matrix, and cell-growth factor interactions. A major goal of this conference is to provide a forum for discussion of the basic cell biological and engineering principles that underlie cell interactions with their surroundings in processes such as adhesion, differentiation, motility, growth, and apoptosis.
Another major focus of the conference is on how new engineering tools, both experimental and analytical, can facilitate basic mechanistic studies of cell behavior. Engineering "tools" in the experimental category include materials that control receptor ligation and physical or temporal interactions between different types of receptors or receptors and ligands; microfabricated devices that control the physical environments of the cells and allow control over cell-cell interactions, and tools for visualizing molecular interactions. A special feature of the meeting will be an interactive session featuring "tools that work" that can be transferred from the labs of engineering investigators to those of biologists.
A final area of emphasis is exploitation of quantitative cell biology for commercial applications. One major application area is in the pharmaceutical industry, where cell and tissue-based assays are needed for target validation and screening compounds and other aspects of drug discovery and development. Other applications include development of human disease models, production of biological therapeutics and cell-based therapies.
Attendees will be from both the Biological Engineering (Biological and Chemical Engineeri
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Contact: Tressa Gaffaney
tgaffane@duke.poly.edu
718-260-3743
Engineering Conferences International
2-Feb-2007