This application requests partial support for a meeting on the """"""""Neurobiology of Brain Disorders"""""""", this time with a special emphasis on the impact of aging on the dysfunction of the nervous system, as part of a Gordon Research Conference series to be held at Melia Golf Vichy Catalan Resort near Girona, Spain from July 27- August 1, 2014.
The Specific Aims of this GRC are to bring together leading scientists who are at the forefront of the field of neurodegenerative and aging-related disorders of the nervous system to present and discuss their latest findings and concepts. The Conference will feature a wide range, but related topics that are relevant to common disease mechanisms of different neurodegenerative and aging-related syndromes, such as synaptic dysfunction, autophagy, protein misfolding and aggregation, circuit and network dysfunction, lipid metabolism and lysosome biology, and RNA mechanisms. Invited speakers represent a wide variety of scientific disciplines, including genetics, biochemistry, cell biology, electrophysiology and imaging technology. Every effort will be made to encourage participation of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty members as well as women and members of minority communities. The Conference will provide opportunities for junior scientists to present their work in the poster sessions and to interact informally with leaders in the field. In addition, short tals will be selected from the submitted posters, so junior scientists will have opportunities to participate in oral presentations. The collegial atmosphere and the ample free time in the afternoons and late evenings provide ideal settings for participants from different disciplines to brainstorm and establish interdisciplinary collaborations. The significance of this application is that this GRC will provide a unique forum for the international community working on the neurobiology of brain disorders to come together and discuss the latest advances and the future challenges in the field of neurodegeneration and aging-related disorders of the nervous system. The relevance of this application to public health is that the discussions generated will help define the most pertinent important questions in the field of neurodegenerative diseases in terms of both basic biology and disease mechanisms, which will aid the development of novel therapeutic strategies for these devastating diseases that are major public health problems. The long-term goal of this GRC is to provide a consistent platform for the community to meet regularly (every two years) in order to disseminate the most recent discoveries and to formulate the most important questions concerning the current state of the art research on brain disorders.

Public Health Relevance

Neurodegenerative and aging-related diseases of the nervous system pose rapidly increasing public health problems;for example, Alzheimer's disease alone represents the 4th leading cause of death among the elderly in developed countries. This Gordon Research Conference intends to bring together scientists who work on basic biology and disease mechanisms of these brain disorders to discuss the latest advances and define future important questions. A Gordon Conference is an ideal venue that allows participants to present and discuss freely unpublished data and their implications as well as formulate future challenges for better understanding of disease mechanisms and developing novel therapeutic strategies.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Type
Conference (R13)
Project #
1R13AG047713-01
Application #
8714546
Study Section
National Institute on Aging Initial Review Group (NIA)
Program Officer
Wise, Bradley C
Project Start
2014-03-15
Project End
2015-02-28
Budget Start
2014-03-15
Budget End
2015-02-28
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2014
Total Cost
$50,000
Indirect Cost
Name
Gordon Research Conferences
Department
Type
DUNS #
075712877
City
West Kingston
State
RI
Country
United States
Zip Code
02892
Lane-Donovan, Courtney; Philips, Gary T; Herz, Joachim (2014) More than cholesterol transporters: lipoprotein receptors in CNS function and neurodegeneration. Neuron 83:771-87