The goal of this meeting is to bring together researchers who are studying both the mechanisms of eukaryotic gene expression and the structural and functional organization of the genome. The integration of these two areas is critical if we are to understand cell type specific gene regulation in development and disease. The rapid convergence of these fields necessitates a meeting of this scope that brings diverse perspectives together to focus on how these processes relate to each other and develop a holistic understanding.

The specific aims of this conference are to:

1. Bring researchers at all stages of their careers together to discuss novel findings at the intersection of genome organization and transcription regulation.
2.  Connect information obtained across scales from the atomic level to microscopic observations to understand how cell-type specific gene expression can be achieved
3. Define open questions in the field that require synergy between different techniques and fields.

Traditional transcription meetings have focused on the basic mechanisms underlying transcription whereas genome organization meetings are dedicated to large-scale genome structure. It has become increasingly clear that the two fields are highly synergistic and interconnected and more crosstalk between the fields is required to fully understand each process. This meeting helps address this critical need. This conference will foster greater communication and synergy between laboratories studying related transcriptional processes at different size scales. This will catalyze in new approaches and collaborations to address questions at the interface of gene expression and genome organization.

Finally, this conference will be held jointly with the Keystone Symposium on Epigenetics in Development and Disease to allow attendees to appreciate the interplay between these two closely related fields and network across both domains. Joint sessions and meals will foster cross-disciplinary interactions, insights and collaborations towards integrating these fields and providing a holistic understanding of epigenetics in the context of chromatin architecture.