The current application is for support for the 43rd annual ASN meeting to be held in Baltimore, MD from March 3rd to 7th, 2012. 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 in the ASN meeting. 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 bases of neural development and disease. These themes are: Building the Nervous System. Metabolism and Cell &Molecular Neuroscience. Glial Mechanisms &Injury. Neuronal Degeneration &Disease. 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 spaces 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 luncheons with the plenary speakers, which gives attendees a chance to discuss topics with the speakers. The fees for these luncheons are reduced for students and postdoctoral fellows. There is a dinner exclusively for students and postdoctoral fellows, which is repeatedly recognized as an outstanding opportunity to network. There is a luncheon entitled """"""""Women in Neurochemistry"""""""", that is open to all attendees, and junior investigators have reduced fees. There are up to 6 sessions that are selected from abstracts submitted, with an emphasis on choosing presentations from graduate students and post doctoral fellows. There are travel awards for outstanding graduate students and post doctoral fellows 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. Most recently, 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 for enhancing the careers of young investigators.
This proposal requests support for the 43rd annual meeting of the American Society for Neurochemistry taking place March 3rd to 7th in St Louis, MO. Support for this meeting will provide valuable assistance to this Society to publicly present new developments in neurochemistry. This annual meeting provides the latest information on advances in molecular and cellular neurobiology. Studies on numerous neurological diseases are presented. A Public Forum is held, which is advertised and focused on presenting information to the general public, this year on traumatic brain injury. A large part of the support requested will help keep registration fees low for young investigators and be used to support educational and networking events for high school students, graduate students, postdocs, young investigators, women and minorities.
