Description of the Workshop:

The Division of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition (DDN) at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announces a 2-day workshop on Local Influences on Health and Repair of Intestinal Epithelium.  The workshop will be held at the Natcher Conference Center on the NIH Campus in Bethesda, Maryland, on March 25–26, 2008.  It will address current research into local factors that govern the maintenance and repair of the intestinal epithelium, and how the inflammatory environment affects those factors.  The program will include plenary talks by invited speakers, along with panel discussions.  The format of the workshop is designed to stimulate discussion, particularly with respect to research needs to understand, and provide a basis for future therapies that address, altered maintenance and repair of intestinal epithelium under conditions of inflammation. 
Space at the workshop is limited, so early registration is encouraged.

Workshop Topics Include:

• The epithelial barrier in the intestine
  
• Normal epithelial replacement and healing
  
• Stem cell biology of the intestine
  
• Effects of the inflammatory environment on the epithelium
  
• Inflammation and cancer

Organizers:

• Richard Blumberg, Harvard Medical School
  
• Jill Carrington, DDN, NIDDK
  
• Linheng Li, Stowers Institute for Medical Research
  
• Asma Nusrat, Emory University
  
• Deborah Rubin, Washington University School of Medicine 

For more information contact:

NIDDK Workshop Contact:

Jill L. Carrington, Ph.D.
301-402-0671
carringj@mail.nih.gov

Workshop Logistics Coordinator:

Cerena Cantrell, CMP
301-670-4990
ccantrell@scgcorp.com