Dear Friends and Colleagues,

It is our great pleasure to invite you to the Membrane Trafficking and Organelle Biogenesis meeting (MTOB), which will be held in Bertinoro, on the 20-21 April 2012.

The meeting will bring together experimental scientists to focus on recent advances in organelle structure, function and biogenesis, protein trafficking, exo-endoytosis, autophagy and lipid biology. The field is entering an exciting phase as insights on molecular mechanism are enhancing our understanding of important biological processes such as signal transduction, development, host-pathogen interactions and familial diseases.

As keynote invited speaker, we will host Prof. Pietro De Camilli, Director of the Yale Program in Cellular Neuroscience, Neurodegeneration and Repair and Howard Hughs Investigator (New Haven, CT, USA). Over the last 25 years, Pietro De Camilli has studied the molecular mechanisms involved in the control of membrane traffic at neuronal synapses. He contributed to demonstrate the crucial role of protein-lipid interactions and phosphoinositide metabolism in the control of endocytosis and, more recently, to elucidate the pathogenetic mechanisms of human diseases.

The setting of the conference has been chosen to provide a friendly environment to stimulate formal and informal discussion during the meeting sessions, while enjoing food and drinks, or during a walk in the enchanting medieval “borgo”.

We hope that the meeting will provide a great opportunity to share new ideas, foster collaborations, and encourage young researchers in the field.

We are very much looking forward to welcoming you to Bertinoro in April.