Other Meetings & Conferences
The 7th International Podocyte Conference
Dates: June 4 - 6, 2008
Location: Delta Chelsea Inn Hotel, Toronto, ON, Canada
Details: http://www.podocyte.ca/
The goal is to bring together leading scientists from various disciplines to promote interactions, new collaborations and directions in podocyte and glomerular biology.
The incidence of endstage kidney disease (ESKD) is growing at an exponential rate throughout the world. Irreversible damage to the renal glomerulus (kidney filter) underlies most forms of kidney diseases including: diabetic nephropathy, hypertensive nephrosclerosis and glomerulonephritides. Unlike other parts of the kidney or other organs, glomeruli do not regenerate spontaneously. Once injured, progressive scarring occurs. Podocytes are a unique cell type that is only found in the glomerulus. Tremendous advances have occurred in our understanding of this unusual cell over the last couple of years. Continued research into this cell will provide novel targets and treatments for our patients in the clinic.
The symposium will feature invited speakers to discuss many aspects of podocyte biology:
- Human genetics – a focus on podocyte genes that have been identified in kidney diseases over the past few years
- Signaling at the slit diaphragm (specialized cell junctions between the podocytes)
- Podocyte progenitors – fact or fiction
- Crosstalk between podocytes and other glomerular cells
- Polarity of podocytes
- What are the best model systems to study podocyte biology?