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Following the success of the first Chromatin, Replication and Chromosomal Stability conference held in June 2009 in Copenhagen, a second conference on this topic will be taking place in Stockholm on June 20-21, 2011. We managed to grab the conference chairs Anja Groth, Catherine Green and Camilla Sjögren for a quick chat.

Q: Anja and Catherine, as the organizers for both meetings, how do you think this conference will compare with the original meeting?

Anja: With another excellent line up of speakers and being the second conference in a series, I am sure this one will be even more successful!

Catherine: We hope to keep the same informal and friendly vibe – with open discussion and free exchange of opinions and ideas. Also it is important for us that the invited speakers get to mix with all the participants, especially the PhD students, which is why we have the discounted student rate and the evening social. We have an outstanding mix of invited speakers that represent the full breadth of research across the chromatin and replication fields and we are hoping that bringing them all together under one roof will stimulate some constructive and original thinking. If we can repeat the success of 2009 then we will be really happy.

Q: Tell us a little bit about your backgrounds. What research are your labs currently working on?

Camilla: I have a PhD from Stockholm University and did my postdoc in Vienna in the group of Kim Nasmyth. Since 2002 I head my own team at Karolinska Institutet, and our main focus today is to decipher the communication between chromosome replication and topology.

Anja: My lab is working on Chromatin Replication and Histone Dynamics. We are interested in how chromatin organization is restored after DNA replication and how chromatin changes arise in diseases like cancer.

Catherine: Here in Cambridge we are focussed on protein transactions on PCNA, mostly using in vivo FRET to analyse changing protein interactions at replication forks. We are particularly interested in whether the trimeric nature of PCNA means it acts as a molecular tool belt from which the appropriate replication protein can be selected when necessary. Other projects are looking at histone methyltransferases, and at novel proteins recruited to replication forks. My long standing question is the nature of replication factories – how are they made, what is in them and why do they exist at all?

Q: What makes this meeting stand apart from other related meetings?

Camilla: The rather broad scope and the mix of invited speakers working in related, but different fields.

Anja: This is a short and condensed meeting that combines several topics including replication, chromosomal organization, and epigenetics. Our aim is to provide an open interactive atmosphere and nice settings that will inspire discussions on big upcoming questions that spans these fields.

Catherine: The connections that it makes between the mechanisms of DNA replication, the inheritance of epigenetic states and the consequent maintenance of cellular memory is an angle that we think is unique.

Q: We have a great line up of international speakers for the conference including Helen Blau (Stanford University) and Michael O’Donnell (The Rockefeller University) covering a range of topics. Is there any one particular topic you are most excited about?

Camilla: No, as said, it is the mix I am most excited about, all topics are highly interesting and hopefully the meeting will create a few new bridges between them.

Anja: There is more emphasis on chromosomal structure this time. This is a hot topic in relation to epigenetics and genome stability and I am very excited about it.

Catherine: For me, as I work on molecular mechanisms of DNA replication I am always super excited to learn more about the final biological consequences of the process, so I expect that the sessions on cellular memory and maintenance of epigenetic states will be really good.

Q: Who do you think would be most interested in this meeting?

Catherine: Anyone interested in how one cell becomes two without forgetting its personal history. We have loads of space for posters and lots of speaker slots that will be filled from submitted abstracts, so there will be plenty of opportunity for scientists at the beginning of their careers to get themselves and their research noticed.

Q: Camilla, you work and live in Stockholm. What can you say are the highlights of Stockholm?

Camilla: Just strolling along the many quays, taking in the colors of Stockholm and their reflections in the sea is a great experience. If I have to pick one place to go I would say the Vasa Museum. The ship found at the museum sank after a couple of hour’s journey in 1628 and was rescued 1961. Both the ship and its story are remarkable. And of course, as you are scientists, pay a visit to the Nobel Museum!

Q: And finally, as you know we have Molly the Molecular Sheep as our company mascot. She comes in many disguises and can be found everywhere. What is your favourite Molly?

Anja: I like the hip graffiti molly…

Cath: We just received our 2011 molly calendar – who knew that molly was a skydiver?

Check out the full speaker list and talk titles at the 'Chromatin, Replication, and Chromosomal Stability' 2011 meeting.

Present your work

If you're interested in presenting your work at the meeting, oral and poster abstracts are being accepted.

Oral abstract and early bird deadline: March 13, 2011.

Poster abstract: April 17, 2011

2009 meeting summary

The 2009 conference included 23 talks from invited speakers and submitted abstracts, 65 posters and was attended by delegates from around the world. View conference summary.