Cell polarity is a universal biological process that is fundamental to all aspects of cell division, growth, development, and tissue morphogenesis. It is also perturbed in numerous developmental diseases, in aging, and in cancer. Polarity underlies the generation of diverse cell types by asymmetrically dividing stem cells, and provides the organizational structures for tissue architecture. The recognition that cell polarity, and defects in polarization, are of such broad biological importance has led to an explosion of interest in this area, with over 21,000 papers identified on PubMed. 

A distinctive feature of the 2016 Cell Polarity conference will be the inclusion of a Gordon Research Seminar, organized by two postdoctoral fellows, which will assemble about 45 – 50 graduate students and postdoctoral trainees to present and discuss their research immediately before the GRC begins. Invited speakers will include established investigators but participation by young investigators will be strongly emphasized. Speakers for short talks will also be selected from the poster abstracts, to provide multiple opportunities for presentation of the newest findings. We wish to establish a tradition that speakers will not present at 2 consecutive Cell Polarity GRCs, and for this reason we have selected a fresh list of speakers for 2016. The meeting will also include new sessions on Cell Polarity in Disease (polycystic disease, wound healing, immune responses), Mitotic Spindle Orientation Mechanisms, Polarity in Unicellular Organisms and Epithelial Mechanobiology, in addition to traditional sessions on Stem Cells, Polarity in Development, Polarity and Cancer, and Planar Cell Polarity. 

Overall, the 2016 Conference and Seminar at Mt. Snow Resort in VT will provide an exciting combination of basic and translational research topics in cell polarity as it relates to development and disease. Together they will facilitate discussion of cutting edge research in polarity, and will foster new ideas and collaborations that will help drive the field forward.