47th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Neurochemistry

American Society For Neurochemistry, Windermere FL

Investigators

Abstract

? DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The current application is for support for the 47th annual ASN meeting to be held in Denver, Colorado, from March 19-23, 2016. NIH funding for previous ASN meetings has been invaluable for supporting our scientific programs and for enhancing our ability to involve graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. To accommodate the breadth of neurochemistry as well as cellular and molecular neurobiology and to provide in depth analyses of particular topics, the ASN continues to build its scientific program around four interwoven, but distinct, themes. These themes have been selected to increase our understanding of the cellular and molecular basis of neural development and disease. These four themes are: 1) Building the Nervous System/Neurodevelopment, 2) Cellular Metabolism and Neurotransmission/Cognition, 3) Glial Function in Health and Disease, and 4) Neurodegeneration. Four Plenary/Presidential speakers have accepted our invitation to participate in the 47th ASN meeting, each one addressing one of the four themes. The ASN is strongly committed to the representation of women and racial/ethnic minorities at its meetings. In this regard, two of the four Plenary/Presidential speakers are female, 33% of the Plenary Session Speakers and 43% of the Chairs/Co-Chairs of Symposia and Colloquia are female, and 6% of the Chairs/Co-Chairs/Plenary Session Speakers are from racial/ethnic minorities. The ASN meeting provides numerous opportunities for delegates to exchange ideas and to form new collaborations because total attendance is approximately 500, and there are numerous opportunities incorporated in our program for delegates to congregate informally. The Society also has several mechanisms to enhance the professional development of junior investigators during the meeting. We organize meetings with the Plenary/Presidential speakers, which gives attendees a chance to discuss topics directly with the speakers. The fees for these meetings are reduced for students and postdoctoral fellows. There is a social mingle, including an educational component, exclusively for students and postdoctoral fellows, which is repeatedly recognized as an outstanding opportunity to network. There is a function entitled Women in Neurochemistry that is open to all attendees, and junior investigators have reduced fees. There are Oral Sessions, which are selected from abstracts submitted, with an emphasis on choosing presentations from graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. There are travel awards for outstanding graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and junior researchers from Latin America to defray their costs of attendance. We host a job-posting site and students can meet with potential future mentors or colleagues during the meeting. In 2010, we added a half-day program for visiting high-school students to engage these future scientists during their formative years. From results of yearly exit surveys, we know that the annual ASN meeting has and will continue to provide an excellent venue for cutting edge neurochemistry and neurobiology, and for enhancing the careers of young investigators.