The Philadelphia Spine Research Society (PSRS) has been conducting annual research meetings since 2004 and the 2021 conference postponed to November 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic will be the 6th international meeting of the Society in collaboration with the Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS). This proposal seeks support to promote and enhance trainee and junior faculty attendance at the 2021 ORS PSRS 6th International Spine Research Symposium. The Symposium will take place on November 6-10, 2019 at Skytop Lodge, Skytop, PA which is a convenient location for both the greater New York and Philadelphia regions. The primary purpose of this conference is to promote state-of-the-art research and to enhance scientific discourse and collaborations in the broad field of intervertebral disc biology. Previous ORS-PSRS conferences have had an excellent track record of bringing together researchers and clinicians from numerous disciplines at various stages of their careers. Key features of the meeting include plenary lectures, state-of-the-art peer-reviewed presentations, roundtable discussions, and trainee and student presentations. Hallmark features of this conference are its relaxed atmosphere and purposefully unscheduled time to permit informal interactions and exchange of ideas among participants. The main topics to be highlighted at the 2021 conference include molecular, cell, and developmental biology of the disc, mechanisms of pathogenesis of disc degeneration, the molecular basis of discogenic pain, biomechanics of the spine, functional tissue engineering, biomedical device design, and rehabilitation. The conference organizers expect broad participation from basic researchers as well as clinicians concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of spinal disorders including disc degeneration and back pain.