Welcome
An Invitation to the 8th Australian Peptide Conference
We warmly invite you to join us at the 8th in the series of Australian Peptide Conferences, in which we return to an island venue in beautiful Queensland. Following the very successful 7th Australian Peptide Conference in 2007, which was held in Cairns jointly with both the 4th International Peptide Symposium and the 2nd Asia-Pacific Peptide Symposium, the 8th Australian Peptide Conference will be held at Couran Cove Island Resort on South Stradbroke Island, just south of Brisbane.
Couran Cove, which is accessible by a short ferry ride, is ideally located close to Brisbane and Coolangatta airports and will be a superb base from which to congregate with old colleagues and new friends to discuss all aspects of the many exciting and rapid advances in peptide research. Couran Cove is situated on South Stradbroke Island - an island resort experience of peaceful seclusion. Nature and culture blend harmoniously together to create a truly Australian-styled resort. The island, which is well served by bush walking tracks has an abundance of local wildlife and flora. A surf beach is located on the east side of the island. Couran Cove Island Resort also provides a leading example of large-scale Ecotourism through design, construction and operation with accomplishments earning national and international awards and Advanced Ecotourism certification.
We are currently developing an exciting program that will include recent advances in peptide science ranging from new synthetic procedures, biology, pharmacology and physiology to the discovery of peptides with novel biological properties, methods for their functional and structural analysis, innovative approaches to elucidate peptide-ligand interactions and new approaches to drug delivery, as well as the emergence of peptide mimetics and peptide-based therapeutics. With the sequencing of the genomes of an increasing number of mammalian species now complete, we are at a particularly rewarding time as the impacts of genomics, proteomics, and bioinformatics start to drive modern drug discovery. The 8th Australian Peptide Conference therefore has the general theme "Peptides - Tools, Targets and Therapeutics".
Imagine waking each morning to the gentle sounds of nature, the call of native birds, the whisper of the breeze through abundant Banksia and rainforest and the hushed roll of the distant surf. We are looking forward to being your hosts at what will be a true feast of peptide science and an outstanding experience both scientifically and socially.
Again, a very warm welcome to you all!
Ed Nice and Mibel Aguilar
Conference co-chairs