Emyr and Emily have just returned from the 2017 Lysosomal diseases Gordon Research Conference – 2017 lysosomal diseases GRC.

GRCs are at the forefront of conferences that represent leading science in the field and we presented our work on the NCLs (Emyr) and Alzheimer’s (Emily). There was a lot of interest in our work and some fantastic feedback and interesting ideas. We had opportunities to catch up with colleagues and old friends and to work on collaborative projects whilst we were there.

Emyr with Dr. Frank Stehr (NCL-Stiftung)

Emyr was invited to present the CLN3 work that has been funded by Action Medical Research, NCL Stiftung  and previously by the Beyond Batten Disease Foundation. Emily presented a poster on our collaborative work with Prof Ralph Nixon (NYU/Nathan Kline Institute) investigating the role of lysosomal Ca2+ in familial Alzheimer’s disease, work that has been funded by Alzheimer’s Research UK. This was without doubt our busiest conference of recent times with barely a free moment! That said, we did briefly visit Pisa and Lucca!

The conference itself (chaired by Prof. Andrea Ballabio, TIGEM) was excellent, great science on show, some very interesting stories and plenty of unpublished data presented. We return to Cardiff enthused, with some great experimental ideas to try out, some data to finish for papers and some new collaborations to develop. Here’s to the next GRC (in Galveston, Texas) in two years time!