VIIth International Conference on Brain Energy Metabolism

Northern California Institute/Res/Edu, San Francisco CA

Investigators

Abstract

[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Support is requested for the Seventh International Conference on Brain Energy Metabolism: "Integrating Molecular, Cellular, and Metabolic Aspects of Neuron-Glia Interactions", to be held August 15-18, 2006 at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Switzerland. Brain energy metabolism is not generally recognized as a discipline per se; rather, it lies at the confluence of several other research areas. These include disease related research (stroke, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, diabetes, others), in vivo and subcellular imaging technologies (PET, MRS, fluorescence in-situ imaging, mass isotopomer approaches), glial-neuron interactions, metabolomics, and mitochondrial physiology. The primary aim of this conference is to bring together, in a very interactive forum, investigators from these different fields who would not otherwise interact in this type of setting. There are 30 invited speakers and an anticipated attendance of about 100. Meeting sessions will include sessions on regulation of glucose-glycogen metabolism, imaging the cellular redox potential in vivo, mitochondrial roles in excitotoxicity and disease, novel aspects of glutamate transmission and homeostasis, in vivo and subcellular imaging modalities germane to brain energetics, metabolic control analysis and metabolomics. The invited speakers are a mix of established and junior investigators. There will in addition be several student/postdoc "data blitzes" selected from submitted abstracts. Past meetings in this series have been extremely successful, leading to lively discussions and research collaborations between investigators from disparate fields and regions. Each of these meetings has had a different focus, in line with the evolving aspects of this field, and each has generated highly cited meeting proceedings. Funds will be used to partially defray the travel & lodging costs of invited speakers, and to provide support for meritorious fellows and graduate students. A website for the conferences has been established. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]