2025 Chemotactic Cytokines Gordon Research Conference and Gordon Research Seminar

About This Grant

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The movement of immune cells within and between tissues is fundamental to successful immune surveillance and the mobilization of immune cells to sites of infection for pathogen control and tissue repair. The chemokine system guides cell migration, primarily of immune cells, and positions these cells in specific niches both in homeostatic conditions as well as in pathologies such as infection, inflammation, and cancer. The chemokine system consists of structurally related protein chemoattractants, their cognate G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs), and a family of atypical receptors (ACKRs), which are structurally related but do not couple to G- proteins and serve to regulate responses to chemokines. The complexity of the chemokine-GPCR-ACKR network requires unique tools, approaches and techniques. The 2026 Chemotactic Cytokines Gordon Research Conference (GRC): The Chemokine System in Orchestrating Cell Migration and Positioning in Health and Disease is an internationally renowned meeting dedicated to the mechanisms and functions of the chemokine system. This will be the 16th edition of the Chemokine GRC. As in previous meetings, the Chemotactic Cytokine GRC 2026 will attract scientists from diverse cell biology, biochemistry and biomedical disciplines to discuss their latest published and unpublished results. The proposed program calls on outstanding specialists that will present new findings and concepts with potential translational perspectives. The GRC will, as in the recent six editions, be accompanied by a satellite Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) on Chemotactic Cytokines. The GRS "Chemokines and chemotactic agents in pathological processes" designed to provide a forum for the next generation of scientists, trainees and early career scientists, to come together and present their work and receive feedback from experts in the field who serve as mentors for the conference. The 2026 Chemotactic Cytokine GRC and GRS meetings will shed new light on our understanding of the molecular and multi-cellular mechanisms of chemokine functions in organizing immune cell movement, position and communication in healthy and diseased tissues. The overall aim is to create highly interactive and stimulating forums to inspire new discoveries that lead to novel therapeutics that improve human health. The specific aims of this conference are: 1. To bring together the leading scientists in the field to present their latest unpublished results and ideas. 2. To foster open, friendly, interactive and critical exchange of ideas that advance this multi-disciplinary field 3. To promote the presentation of novel aspects of chemokine research with translational potential 4. To expose young scientists to new findings and in the chemokine field and opportunities to build networks. 5. To provide a dedicated seminar forum for young scientists (GRS) to present their work with an open flow of data and ideas between students and senior scientists invited to mentor this forum.