2022
“Back to Live”: The 16th International Meeting of the European Calcium Society (ECS2022)
UCC hosted the 16th International Meeting of the European Calcium Society (ECS2022) at Devere Hall, between Sunday 21st and Thursday 25th August 2022.
This conference was originally scheduled for August 2020, but like so many other aspects of life, was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. On Saturday 20th August, there was the 3rd (and first in-person) meeting of the Junior ECS, for early career researchers. The main meeting attracted over 130 delegates, with 55 oral and 54 poster presentations on the role of Ca2+ in processes including cancer, neurodegeneration, mechanosensation, muscle contraction, and stress responses of plants. The social highlights were tours of the City and a Gala Dinner at Cork City Gaol, including music from Uilleann Ceoil.
From the Department of Physiology, the local organizing team was chaired by Dr. John Mackrill, with Dr. Mark Rae as vice-chair; Michael Vaughan was the local organizer of the Junior ECS event. We are extremely grateful to our collaborators Dr. Barbara Doyle Prestwich (School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UCC), Emma Condon and Dr. Indu Nair for their enthusiastic and sustained contributions throughout the meeting. At the conference, Dr. Rae chaired a session entitled “Ca2+ signalling in Alzheimer's disease” and Dr. Mackrill chaired another entitled “Ca2+ signalling in evolution”.
Full engagement during ECS2022 poster session and lively discussions over dinner! (Photo credit: Dr. Indu Nair, Dept. Physiology & School of BEES).
ECS2022 was a great success, judging from the vibrancy of the atmosphere, the quality of the science and the generation of new collaborations. For many of the Junior attendees, it was their first ever live conference (and in some cases, presentation) and it is clear how much more can develop from interactions made in three dimensions compared with that in two. The local team received a barrage of congratulations for ECS2022, the University, its stunning grounds, Cork City and the country of Ireland. This has left us feeling happy, but exhausted!