Over 1,600 molecular life scientists from over 34 countries, will gather in Jerusalem from September 10-14 for the
2017 Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS) Congress. The prestigious annual conference was brought to Israel by Professor Azem Abdussalam and the
Israeli Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology with support from the Jerusalem Conventions & Visitors Bureau (JCVB), which operates under the
Jerusalem Development Authority (JDA).
The 2017 FEBS Congress, entitled "From molecules to cells and back", will cover the entire spectrum of molecular life sciences with symposia addressing topics like cancer biology, chromatin structure and epigenetic modifications, molecular neuroscience, mechanisms for protein homeostasis, medicinal chemistry, metabolomics and signaling, molecular machines in action, protein degradation, signaling across membranes: receptors, channels and transporters, systems biology and structural computational biology.
Conference participants will benefit from some of the leading scientists and researchers in this field and include: Nobel laureate Robert J. Lefkowitz (Duke University), Patrick Cramer (Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen), Carol Robinson (University of Oxford), Marcelo Rubinstein (University of Buenos Aires), Jonathan Weissman (University of California) and Feng Zhang (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
Each year the FEBS Congress, recognizes the outstanding achievements of women in life sciences through the FEBS /EMBO Women in Science Award, with the recipient announced at the annual congress. This year’s awardee, Ottoline Leyser (Sainsbury Laboratory, Cambridge University, UK), and 2016 awardee Fiona Watt (King’s College, UK) will both present plenary lectures at the Congress.
Professor Michal Sharon, a Vice President of the Israeli Society for Biochemistry and Molecular biology, a professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science and a member of the FEBS organizing committee said: “The aim of the FEBS conference is to bring leading researchers from all aspects of molecular life sciences together, and we are very excited to host this year event in Jerusalem,” “We hope to offer unique opportunities for scientific interactions, which will facilitate the initiation of friendships, collaborations, and joint projects.”
Ilanit Melchior, Director of Tourism for the Jerusalem Development Authority, which runs the Jerusalem Conventions and Visitors Bureau and supports conferences and events in the city said: “From September 10-14 some of the most brilliant minds in the field of molecular life sciences will be in Jerusalem to learn, share expertise, network and collaborate. We are proud that Jerusalem will host this impressive group of scientists, who will also benefit from visiting a city whose academic institutions and hospitals are at the forefront of cutting edge research.”
Founded on January 1 1964, the Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS) has become Europe's largest organizations in the molecular life sciences. It has over 35,000 members across more than 35 biochemistry and molecular biology societies in different countries of Europe and neighboring regions. As a grass-roots organization, FEBS thereby provides a voice to a large part of the academic research and teaching community in Europe and beyond. As a charity, FEBS promotes and supports biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology, molecular biophysics and related research areas through its Journals, Congress, Advanced Courses, Fellowships and other initiatives. There is an emphasis in many programs on scientific exchange and cooperation between scientists working in different countries in Europe, and on promotion of the training of early-career scientists.