Objective
The conference intends to high-light current approaches and future prospectives of research on the Müller glial cells of the retina (first described in 1851). It is now well-acknowledged that the development, normal signal processing and learning, and pathology of the CNS crucially depend on the function of glial cells. While in the brain, several types of glial cells share a wealth of glial functions, the retina (being a part of the CNS) is dominated by just one type of glial cells, the other metabolic interactions with the neurons. Indeed, much of the present knowledge about glia was and is evaluated on Müller cells. Furthermore, it became clear that many important problems of current ophthalmology and retinal surgery, such as retinal detachment and macular hole formation, proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR), and neovascularization, are crucially dependent on the virtually all scientists worldwide who devote their main research activities to Müller cells, and the leading European ophthalmologists who are concerned with current problems of retinal surgery, experimental retinal transplantation, and gene transfer into the retina. It is expected that the focussed experience at the conference will allow for a significant transfer of knowledge and technology between basic scientists and clinicians, and, thus, both to a stimulation of new research strategies in fields relevant to human life style and to the development of new therapeutic strategies and technologies in ophthalmology. It is further expected that many interdisciplinary collaborative projects will be initiated as a result of the conference. In particular, a European research network on Müller cell research may be prepared in the course of the project.
ftp://ftp.cordis.lu/pub/improving/docs/HPCF-2000-00369-1.pdf
Fields of science
Topic(s)
Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
ACM - Preparatory, accompanying and support measuresCoordinator
Germany