The first international scientific conference organised by the Ciliopathy Alliance will take place in London between May 16-18, 2012. The two-day scientific programme will feature the latest research on cilia biology and the ciliopathies. For further information or to register for the conference, please visit the conference website: http://cilia2012.org/.

Philip Beales

Philip Beales is Professor of Medical Genetics at the Institute of Child Health, University College London, and a consultant clinical geneticist at Guy’s Hospital and Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. His research is focussed on the study of the role of primary cilia in disease and development. He has a longstanding interest in the ciliopathy Bardet-Biedl syndrome, and his laboratory was instrumental in unveiling the role of primary cilia dysfunction in the pathogenesis of this rare congenital condition.

Peter Jackson

Peter Jackson is a Staff Scientist at Genentech Inc. in San Francisco, California, where he is involved in defining the strategy for development of therapeutics for critical physiological pathways including tumour metabolism and the cell cycle. Before joining Genentech in 2005, he spent 10 years on the faculty at Stanford University School of Medicine. At Genentech, his laboratory has been involved in studies of cell cycle biochemistry, particularly the role of the ubiquitin-proteasome system in cell cycle regulation, with a central finding being the discovery of E3 ubiquitin ligase inhibitors.