Telomere Research Network Hybrid Annual Meeting

Toward Telomere Measurement Precision and Defining Critical Research Questions
Thursday & Friday, March 30-31, 2023

Purpose

This two-day hybrid interactive meeting will present the results of the Telomere Research Network focused on the evaluation of telomere length as an indicator of psychosocial stress and a predictor of health and disease relevant for human population studies. Initial presentations will provide investigators specific recommendations on methodologic precision from an international, multi-method collaborative initiative. Subsequently, the meeting will focus on new research and interactive discussions expected to provide recommendations to the TRN on next critical research gaps in the telomere field and best approaches to enhancing interaction across basic, translational, and clinical research related to telomere dynamics.

Background

The Telomere Research Network is a collaborative project funded through a set of cooperative agreements (U24 and U01’s) by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). The primary goals of this international network are to:

• Enhance collaborative efforts directed at the comparison of existing and novel methods of telomere measurement applicable to population studies by the U01 laboratories and other network affiliate researchers
• Coordinate the development and dissemination of best practices for telomere measurement and provide resources to the field
• Invest in innovative pilot projects addressing important gaps in telomere research
• Support an interdisciplinary network of scientists focused on advancing research on telomeres as sentinels of environmental exposure, psychosocial stress, and disease susceptibility

The initial work of the TRN focused on addressing concerns related to methodologic factors that influence telomere length measurement precision and establishing clear expectations for careful consideration of study design when selecting existing methods for human population studies. Moving forward the TRN expects to serve as a bridge between scientists examining telomere length and dynamics in relation to human population health and those studying basic and translational telomere biology. Through the dissemination of best practices, study design recommendations, and continued transparent dialogue, the TRN expects to perpetuate high impact rigorous repeatable scientific discovery and discourse on the role of telomere dynamics in relation to psychosocial stress, environmental exposures, and human health, disease, and aging.

Meeting Objectives

By the end of the meeting, attendees will be able to:

• Define key variables related to methodologic precision in telomere length measures
• Understand the multiple factors contributing to the need for significant sample sizes and careful monitoring of biologic sources in human population studies of telomere dynamics
• Have a clear understanding of the goals of the TRN and the existing and future resources available to investigators
• Appreciate the growing complexity of our understanding of the role of telomeres in human health and disease and the need for continued interactive dialogue across telomere researchers
• Critically appraise the existing literature related to telomeres as a biomarker of psychosocial and environmental exposure and a predictor of health, disease, and lifespans

Meeting Goals

The TRN annual meeting is expecting to achieve the following goals:

• Enhanced communication across basic, translational, and clinical researchers seeking to better understand the role of telomeres in cellular, organismal and population studies
• Provide direct feedback to the TRN on current progress
• Provide recommendations to the TRN on key research questions and next steps to further the understanding of the ability of telomeres to serve as a biomarker of psychosocial stress and environmental exposure and predictor of human health and disease in human population studies
• A meeting report outlining the content of the interactive discussions and the future steps of telomere research focused on the role of telomeres in psychosocial stress, environmental exposures and human health and aging

Being a "Participatory" Participant

During the meeting we will be using Mural, a collaborative digital whiteboard, to capture attendee input. The following two Mural board links will be made available to attendees at the launch of the meeting:

• An Unconference Mural board will be used to gather attendee input on topics to be discussed during the Unconference session
• A Data Management and Sharing Mural board will be used to gather attendee input on their preparedness to develop and implement their own data management and sharing plans

Travel Accomodations

For those attending in-person, a hotel block has been reserved at the Hilton Garden Inn Durham/Southpoint.

Book Your Room: NIEHS Stacy Drury
Group Code NSD
Book by Wednesday, March 9th, 2023
7007 Fayetteville Road
Durham, NC 27713
Please call (919) 544-6000 to speak with the reservation team members.

Privacy Act Statement – Registration

The primary use of the collection of your name and email address is to provide information about the Telomere Research Network (TRN) 2023 annual meeting sessions and links to attend virtually and used by program officials to provide technical or other support needed related to the meeting sessions. If you do not provide your name, email address, and company or affiliation, you would not be able to register for the meeting sessions, and subsequently would not be able to participate in or receive additional information about the meeting sessions. Names, email addresses, and/or company or affiliation of registrants will also be provided for the following related program purposes:

1. Names and company or affiliation will be provided to NIEHS Security for those who will attend in person on the NIEHS campus.
2. Names, email addresses, and company or affiliation will be provided to Tulane University School of Medicine for them to administer surveys/polls during or after the meeting sessions for the purpose of collecting demographic information and for collecting data related specifically to the quality of the meeting.

Responding to those surveys/polls will be optional, but the information will be very helpful for program oversight and future planning. Information about dietary restrictions will be used for planning meals and refreshments. This information is optional, but if not provided may limit options available to you for food and refreshments offered. Collection of this information is authorized under 42 U.S.C. 203, 241, 289l-1 and 44 U.S.C. 3101, and Section 301 and 493 of the Public Health Service Act. The Privacy Act System of Records Notice (SORNs) that cover collection of this information are 09-25-0156 Records of Participants in Programs and Respondents in Surveys Used to Evaluate Programs of the Public Health Service, HHS/PHS/NIH/OD and 09-90-1901 HHS Correspondence, Comment, Customer Service, and Contact List Records.

Privacy Act Statement – Meeting Session Participation

Please note that the in person and virtual meeting sessions will be recorded for program review and future planning purposes, and the recordings will be publicly available from the Tulane University School of Medicine website. For participants who attend the meeting in person, please note that those in the audience will be captured on camera in general and will probably be captured in the peripheral view near microphones where recording of participants who use the microphone will occur. For all participants who attend the meeting virtually via the ZoomGov Meeting platform, names of all participants (presenters, attendees, and stakeholders) will be visible to everyone on that call – virtual callers will have the option to use their camera and may opt to remain off camera. Participants’ comments entered in the chat feature of the virtual meeting will be visible to other virtual participants and may be shared with participants attending in person for meeting session discussions. Collection of this information is authorized under 42 U.S.C. 203, 241, 289l-1 and 44 U.S.C. 3101, and Section 301 and 493 of the Public Health Service Act. The Privacy Act System of Records Notice (SORNs) that cover collection of this information are 09-25-0156 Records of Participants in Programs and Respondents in Surveys Used to Evaluate Programs of the Public Health Service, HHS/PHS/NIH/OD and 09-90-1901 HHS Correspondence, Comment, Customer Service, and Contact List Records.

Register in Advance for this Meeting

This virtual meeting will be held in person and via ZoomGov Webinar. Please register to receive the necessary links.

Register

Questions

For questions about the meeting content, please contact Stacy Drury, M.D., Ph.D. or Michelle L. Heacock, Ph.D. For logistical questions, please contact Jacqueline Kandalaft.