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COVID-19: It is with considerable regret that we announce the cancellation of the upcoming in-person CSHL meeting on Glia in Health and Disease because of ongoing concerns about the coronavirus outbreak. In an effort to prioritize our participants’ health while still promoting scientific exchange, we are hosting a virtual meeting, including oral sessions via Zoom, digital "poster sessions", dedicated Slack channel for one-on-one discussions, and the Leading Strand archive after the conference. Please check your email for updates regarding the virtual meeting, refunds, and other important details.

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The eighth summer conference on Glia in Health & Disease is going fully virtual and will begin late morning EST on Thursday, July 16 and end late afternoon EST on Sunday, July 19, 2020. Oral sessions will be confined to later morning and afternoon sessions EST to maximize access by participants from around the world. An outline program will be posted shortly, following further discussion with the organizers.

The proposed meeting will assemble the leaders in the field, together with junior faculty, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students, to discuss new, cutting-edge developments in the study of all aspects of glial biology in health and disease.

The format of the meeting will include a number of virtual oral sessions and virtual poster sessions. Each oral session will include invited speakers and speakers selected from submitted abstracts. For this reason, abstracts from accomplished junior and senior investigators are warmly invited.

Of particular note for trainees, the keynote session will be composed of exclusively trainee (graduate student and postdoc) talks in order to highlight the many important advances made by trainees to our field. This session also serves to honor the memory and contributions of Dr. Ben Barres, who advanced the field not only with his seminal discoveries but also by his tireless and selfless mentoring of and advocacy for junior scientists.

As usual at Cold Spring Harbor meetings, abstracts of both poster and platform sessions will be published in an abstract book. The abstracts should focus on new and unpublished data. The organizers will select abstracts for oral or poster presentations. The status (talk/poster) of abstracts will be posted on our web site as soon as decisions have been made. We have applied for funds from government and industry to partially support graduate students and postdocs.

We have funds to provide partial scholarships for individuals who are US citizens/permanent residents from minority groups under-represented in the life sciences. Please provide justification in writing to Catie Carr and state your financial needs. Preference will be given to those applying who submit abstracts to the meeting.

All questions pertaining to registration, abstract submission, or any other matters may be directed to Catie Carr.

Partial support may be provided by: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke