About the ASMB

Welcome to ASMB!

The mission of the ASMB is to promote basic, translational, and clinical research on the extracellular matrix (ECM), cell-ECM interactions, and ECM-based therapies and devices, and to support the growth and professional development of the ECM research community. The ASMB will accomplish this mission by promoting interactions among academia, scientific societies, industry, and government; facilitating dissemination of relevant knowledge and new findings; providing mentoring opportunities to junior scientists; and advocating sustained funding for research and education.

The composition of the ECM is diverse, encompassing much more than the classical structural components. Thus, ASMB's reach is broad and includes (yet not limited to) research on:

  • Structural ECM components
  • Mechanisms of eukaryotic or prokaryotic cell interaction with ECM components, as occur via integrins, syndecans, and other receptors 
  • How the interactions with the ECM impact cell behavior, signaling, and gene expression
  • The orderly progression of ECM formation during development
  • The disruption of the ECM and ECM-mediated processes in hereditable and acquired diseases
  • Applying this knowledge to making translational advancements in therapeutics, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

Because of its diversity and broad reach, ECM biology ties together a number of basic, translational, and applied disciplines such as developmental and cell biology, biochemistry, cancer biology, inflammation, orthopedics, rheumatology, dermatology, pulmonary medicine, bioengineering, and much more.

One of the principal functions of the ASMB is to provide a forum for ECM biologists of diverse disciplines to meet, interact, exchange ideas, and develop new collaborations. The ASMB Biennial Meeting has been, and will continue to be, the society's most effective means to promote interactions, but we are now reaching out to our members and ECM professionals through our new website and hope that our network of scientists can continue to thrive and grow through this medium.

 

Click here for information on ASMB membership