The purpose of this application is to provide a venue for cultivating novel ideas, concepts, and collaborations in developmental psychobiology. Our objective is to facilitate integrative discussions and to introduce cutting edge approaches to the study of behavioral development by assembling research scientists from diverse academic backgrounds including, but not limited to, ethology, psychobiology, neurobiology, neurogenetics, and molecular biology. We will accomplish these goals through a highlighted, topical symposium to be held at the annual meeting of the International Society for Developmental Psychobiology. One symposium will be held each year for 5 consecutive years. Each symposium will be comprised of three to four speakers and a discussant. The symposia will emphasize interdisciplinary interaction by featuring speakers from disciplines unrelated to developmental psychobiology, as well as speakers from disciplines related to developmental psychobiology but who do not ordinarily attend the ISDP meeting. Speakers will share their unique perspectives through data-driven talks lasting 25 to 45 minutes. The discussant will facilitate interaction among the speakers and members of the audience through a panel discussion. Because there will be no concurrent meeting sessions during the symposium, the symposium will draw maximal attendance by the membership. To broaden the impact of each symposium, we will advertise broadly at key scientific meetings focussed on infant development, neuroscience, and neurogenetics. Following the meeting, a summary of the symposium, submitted by the chair with input from the speakers, will be published in the journal Developmental Psychobiology with details posted on our society webpage. The 2003 ISDP meeting will be held in New Orleans, LA, just prior to the Society for Neuroscience meeting. The 2002 ISDP meeting in Orlando, FL (upcoming) and the 2001 ISDP meeting in San Diego, CA, are marked by record numbers of abstract submissions and registrations. We attribute our success, in part, to the broad range of topics covered in invited addresses and symposia that we have hosted in recent years. The present proposal requests support for honoraria and travel expenses for symposium speakers for the next 5 years. Obtaining multiple year support will help to establish a culture of attendance at the ISDP meetings among researchers from various fields, which will prolong the impact of the grant long after the period of support requested.
