Grant: Planning and Dissemination Grant - Institute Community Support

The La and La-related Protein Society promotes the study of the La and La-related proteins (LARPs), a family of RNA binding proteins with important functions in the normal growth of cells and that have been linked extensively to a number of challenges to human health. For example, La proteins were first identified in human patients suffering from auto-immune diseases including Lupus and Sjogren's syndrome, and since then they have been linked to several cancers including leukemia and liver cancer, as well as infection by more than a dozen human viruses. More recently, the La-related proteins have also come under intense scrutiny as factors important in the healthy growth of cells that also can become dysregulated during human cancers such as ovarian and stomach cancer. Every two years, the La and La-related Protein Society brings together researchers from all over the world to share and collaborate on the study of these proteins with critical roles in human health. Researchers present their work in the form of oral presentations and posters, with an emphasis on ensuring that young scientists also get an opportunity to showcase their research.