We cordially invite you to participate in the 2009 Workshop on Multi-Scale Muscle Mechanics. The workshop will be held on September 18-21, 2009 in one of biology’s most storied sites: the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

In the workshop, we will explore the mechanical properties of muscles at spatial scales ranging from molecular to in vivo, multi-muscle/multi-joint systems. The objectives of the workshop are to:

• Discuss current and future research on skeletal muscle, in health and disease;
• Discuss technological advances that are and have the potential to advance knowledge of muscle function;
• Emphasize an integrative approach in studying muscle function;
• Discuss how to integrate/synthesize findings from analyses performed at different scales;
• Promote the interaction of promising young scientists with established investigators; and
• Disseminate the meetings findings to the scientific and lay communities.

We have created a unique and exciting meeting agenda, addressing the needs of students and senior investigators alike, in order to meet these objectives. The scientific sessions in the meeting will include symposia that explore the mechanical properties of muscle:

• From Proteins to Sarcomeres;
• From Sarcomeres to Fibers;
• From Fibers to Whole Muscles;
• From Muscles to the Muscle-tendon Unit;
• From Muscle-tendon Units to Multi-joint Systems; and using
• Computational Modeling of Muscle from Proteins to Multi-joint Systems

Each of the symposia will include a historical/overview presentation followed by two shorter presentations discussing the “state of the science.” Therefore, we anticipate that the symposia will be able to meet the needs of graduate students and senior scientists alike. The program will also feature two plenary lectures. They are:

• What Can Comparative Biomechanics Teach Us About Muscle in General? Dr. Larry Rome (Professor of Biology at the University of Pennsylvania) will provide this opening lecture in which he will elucidate the contributions to our overall understanding of skeletal muscle mechanics that have been made by studying highly specialized examples of animal muscle.
• Adaptability of Muscle Proteins. Dr. Karyn Esser, an Associate Professor of Physiology at the University of Kentucky, will provide this lecture in which she explores the adaptability of muscle proteins (and contractile proteins in particular) to adapt to altered physiological condition.

These invited scientific presentations will feature some of the most prominent names in muscle mechanics. In addition, we will encourage the contributions of all meeting participants through poster and oral presentations from proffered abstracts and through the creation of small discussion groups. These groups will consider, define, and explore the key questions to be answered in order to advance our understanding of muscle mechanics further.

We hope that you will join us in Woods Hole for this exciting and timely workshop!

Key Dates

Abstracts submission: May 1, 2009 - June 15, 2009
Registration opens: April 15, 2009
Registration closes: September 1, 2009
Conference dates: Friday, September 18 – Monday, September 21, 2009

Meeting at a Glance

September 18

September 19

September 20

Full Program

Organizers

	Silvia Blemker, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering University of Virginia
	Bruce Damon, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences Assistant Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics Vanderbilt University
	Richard L. Lieber, Ph.D. Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery University of California, San Diego