As a result of a series of significant technological advances, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, which only a decade ago was considered to be largely a tool of the structural chemist, has assumed a place of growing importance as a noninvasive technique in biomedical research. Although a significant number of investigators, in a number of countries, are now using NMR spectroscopy in biochemical and physiological studies of living cells, perfused organs, and whole animals, there has not, to date, been a major conference dedicated to this subject. The proposed conference, sponsored by The New York Academy of Sciences, will focus exclusively on high-resolution NMR spectroscopy in the study of biochemical metabolic regulation and bioenergetics in vivo in experimental animal models, in whole perfused organs, and in intact cells and on the application the technique in the clinic. The importance of this conference on physiological NMR spectroscopy lies in its emphasis on the biological and clinical problems that this noninvasive technique is uniquely capable of addressing and solving. A new generation of high field spectrometers suitable for whole body or perfused organ NMR studies is becoming increasingly available as universities and other research institutions continue to commit appreciable portions of their research budgets to this technique; thus, it seems imperative at this point to build up close interactions between the NMR specialists on one hand and biochemists, physiologists, pharmacologists, toxicologists, and clinician/researchers on the other. Consequently, the goals of the proposed conference include: (1) to provide a timely forum for summarizing the current development of this rapidly emerging field with respect to both basic physiological investigations and methods for extending these studies into the clinic; and (2) to identify areas, such as potential medical applications, where in vivo NMR spectroscopy will have the greatest future impact; and (3) to foster interdisciplinary investigation so as to maximize the research capabilities of the new generation of high field biomedical NMR spectrometers.
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