EMBO Conference: Wnt Meeting 2016

The Wnt signaling pathway controls many key steps during animal development and tissue homeostasis. It is also a major cancer pathway, especially in colorectal cancer, and has been linked to many other diseases as well, including neurodegeneration. Our increasing understanding of the biochemical mechanisms underlying the Wnt pathway have uncovered pathway complexity and allowed a rational design of drugs that target inappropriate Wnt signaling.

The primary goal of this Wnt series is to bring together the key scientists and major players in the field from both sides of the Atlantic and from Asia, to set up an exciting forum that is conducive to exchanging the latest results and discussing new ideas and concepts. Particular attention will be paid to the inclusion of translational aspects of the field such as new disease models and drug design. Other key factors that guided our design of this meeting were the recruitment of young scientists who have entered the field more recently with interesting contributions. Presentations by founders of the Wnt field will allow the next generation of Wnt researchers to benefit from the perspective of those researchers who have made major contributions.

The EMBO Conference Wnt2016 will bridge recent fundamental insights into the cellular/molecular mechanisms of Wnt signal transduction and newly emerging functions of Wnt signaling in development and disease.