GPCR Retreat

The GPCR Retreat focuses on advances in our understanding of how GPCRs operate in cell communication. The main goal of the GPCR Retreat is to provide a venue for students, post-doctoral fellows, and principal investigators from academia and industry to discuss and debate existing and novel concepts in GPCR biology. 

One of the core values of this international meeting is to promote interactions among all participants of all diversity backgrounds, particularly between trainees and principal investigators. Each year, approximately 2/3 of the participants are trainees. Registration to the GPCR Retreat is capped at 200 participants to promote an intimate environment. 

Most importantly, the GPCR Retreat dedicates time for two trainee symposia, an initiative that began in the Ottawa 2017 edition, to showcase the breadth of diversity in GPCR trainee communities.   For the Ottawa 2017 GPCR Retreat, of the ten talks from trainees 80% were from women and 60% from visible minorities.   Over the years, the meeting has grown into one of the most recognized international events in the field. That reputation has led to broad participation from the Great Lakes region and beyond.

Conference History

The GPCR Retreat is an annual joint meeting with the Club des récepteurs à Sept Domaines Transmembranaires du Québec that rotates around locations in Canada and the United States surrounding the Great Lakes region. 

The first Great Lakes GPCR Retreat was conceived, organized and held in London, Ontario, Canada in October 1999. The following year, the Great Lakes GPCR Retreat partnered with the annual symposium of the Club des Récepteurs à Sept Domains Transmembranaires du Québec. The meeting tours through many of the major universities in the Great Lakes region in both Canada and the United States. 

The past few GPCR retreats have been held in: 

• Niagara-on-the-lake (2022)

• Bromont, Québec (2019)

• Detroit, Michigan (2018)

• Ottawa, Ontario (2017)

• Chicago, Illinois (2016)

• Toronto, Ontario (2015)

• Bromont, Québec (2014)

• Cleveland, Ohio (2013)

• London, Ontario (2012)