Cell polarity and membrane trafficking are fundamental biological processes that impact stem cell function, cancer, bacterial and viral infections, cell migration, signaling and morphogenesis. Recent research has revealed that these two areas are intimately interlinked. The sites of polarised secretion and endocytosis depend on cortical polarity. On the other hand, it is becoming increasingly clear that polarised membrane trafficking regulates cell polarity. Thus, this is an important moment to bring researchers in these two fields together to encourage interactions, build new collaborations and stimulate progress at the interface between these two research areas. Topics include epithelial biology, apical/basolateral membrane sorting, Rho GTPase function, asymmetric stem cell division, cell migration, computational modeling and advanced imaging using model systems from fungi, plants and animals. 

Since this is an emerging, interdisciplinary field, we want to attract young people to the meeting and will provide ample opportunities fro them to present their work and meet with scientific leaders. We will therefore include short talks chosen from abstracts and plenty of time for informal discussions to foster interactions among the participants.