This International workshop, being held in Sao Paolo, Brazil August 4-7, 2013, is focused on the neuroendocrinology of stress. Neuroendocrinology is fundamental to basic function and has implications in all aspects of life including neuroscience, endocrinology and even immunology and microbiology. On a broader scale, neuroendocrinology explains how an individual interacts in society and with the environment. While there are significant number of scientists studying neuroendocrine systems in the United States and in Latin America, interactions between these two groups have lagged. Given the recent advances in the field of neuroendocrinology, the goal of this workshop is to facilitate a consortium of US and South American neuroendocrinologists who can accelerate progress in this dynamic and growing area of science in the era of the globalization of science.
Intellectual Merits: The objective of this workshop is to determine how the stress circuitry functions normally, how it can become dysregulated in adulthood and what this dysregulation means for health and disease. This workshop will focus on gaining a better understanding of the neuroplastic changes in the brain during development and adulthood in response to changing hormonal and environmental conditions. The outcome of this workshop will provide future directions that this burgeoning field should take. The questions will be addressed by describing the results of studies using state-of-the-art techniques that include genetic, epigenetic, molecular, biochemical and behavioral approaches.
Broader Impact: This workshop is part of a longer term initiative to establish collaborative interactions between US and South American scientists and trainees. It is the added goal to give US students the benefit of an international experience. This grant will fund US young investigators (graduate students and investigators who are within 10 years of obtaining a PhD). Competitively selected young investigators will also have the opportunity to author a review article with senior mentors.
This award is being co-funded by the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems in the Directorate for Biological Sciences and NSF's Office of International and Integrative Activities.
