Dear Colleagues,

It is with pleasure that we invite you to attend the Towards a More Perfect Union: Multi-Scale Models of Muscle and Their Experimental Validation thematic meeting, which will be held in Canterbury, England on July 17-20, 2023.

An emerging generation of computational models and modeling approaches that cross multiple temporal and spatial scales is enabling new understanding of the mechanisms that regulate striated muscle contraction. These models and their technical underpinnings rely on new, higher-order information about protein and sarcomere structural dynamics, and this is supported by the current resolution-revolution in structural biology. Coupling experimental and computational approaches provides a powerful approach to describe the functional properties and interactions of sarcomere proteins both at rest and during contraction. This understanding then offers new insights into mechanisms that regulate cardiac and skeletal muscle contractile function and its dysfunction in diseases. Moreover, such approaches support the identification of small molecule targets for therapeutic interventions and can predict their mechanism of action.

The thematic meeting will provide a forum for colleagues from academia and industry to connect between disciplines and discuss their own advances and prospects for applying new computational and experimental tools. The aim is for a new generation of muscle researchers to forge close collaboration amongst themselves and bridge the gap between modelers and experimentalists.

Visit the website for the Program At-A-Glance and additional details. We encourage you to share this information with colleagues and students who may be interested in presenting their research and collaborating with a global community.

Please note that the deadline to submit an abstract is March 20, 2023, and the deadline to register at the early registration rate is April 10, 2023.  Abstract submission is free and short talks will be selected from among submitted abstracts.

We look forward to seeing you in Canterbury.

Sincerely,

Program Organizers
Silvia Blemker, University of Virginia, USA
Mike Geeves, University of Kent, United Kingdom
William Lehman, Boston University, USA
Andrew McCulloch, University of California, San Diego, USA
Michael Regnier, University of Washington, USA
Jill Tardiff, University of Arizona, USA
Jolanda van der Veldon, Amsterdam University Medical Center, The Netherlands