The proposed meeting in Jerusalem will bring together in tandem sessions two forums of scientists: the Hemochromatosis Conference on the clinical aspects of iron overload, and the Iron Protein meeting, representing the most prestigious symposium on basic research in the biology of iron. Each of these meetings is customarily held every other year. The Fourth International Conference on Hemochromatosis will take place on April 29 and 30, 1993 and will be followed by the 11th International Conference on Iron and Iron Proteins between the 2nd and 7th of May. For the first time these meetings will be jointly organized and held at a single location. The clinical meeting will review recent progress in the identification of the hemochromatosis gene on chromosome 6, the development of new non-invasive methods for assessing the severity of iron overload, research on the mechanism of iron toxicity, and the design and testing of new orally effective iron chelating drugs. Topics of basic research will include transcriptional and translational regulation of transferrin and ferritin genes, the cell biology of the transferrin receptor, structure-function relationships of iron proteins, transferrin-cell and ferritin-cell interactions, and the transport of iron across blood-brain and blood testis barriers. Special efforts will be made to recruit leading scientists new to the iron protein meetings, and to consider new approaches to iron research such as the potential of gene therapy for the treatment of iron overload, the role of iron in normal and deranged brain function, and cytokine regulation ferritin expression.
The aim of this application is to make it possible for scientists from the U.S. who are established or emerging creative investigators to participate in the two conferences, thereby promoting exchange of information and ideas with other leading scientists from Europe, Japan and Australia, to the mutual benefit of all.
