This is an application requesting funds to partially support the 8th International Primary Hyperoxaluria Workshop being held in London, United Kingdom, on June 29 - 30, 2007. This Workshop is the 8th in a series that has run every 2-3 years since 1990 and the previous workshop was held in Rochester, MN in 2004. The meeting in 2007 will be the first time the workshop has been held in London, even though this city was at the center of the advances in PH research in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s. Although at the beginning these workshops were decidedly European in nature, they have now evolved to become truly international in character. Participants are expected from all corners of the globe, including Europe, North America, Australasia and Asia. These workshops are the only opportunity currently available for clinicians, clinical scientists and basic scientists to get together to discuss the latest laboratory findings in the hereditary hyperoxalurias and oxaloses and how they might be speedily translated into improvements in clinical management. The tremendous advances in our understanding of the molecular etiology and pathophysiology of the primary hyperoxalurias over the past 15 years have been in part due to the stimulating discussions and interactions that have taken place at these workshops. A session specifically designed for patients, families and friends is included and opportunities for these individuals, who are all affected by PH in one way or another, to intermingle with the scientists who research this disease are built into the program. Presently, of the 25 scientific/clinical invited speakers, 9 are from the United States, however, it is expected that many more American scientists, especially young investigators, will participate in the discussions and present their work in short oral presentations or in the poster sessions. This series of bi/triennial PH workshops is the only opportunity currently available for specialists from many different disciplines (e.g. pediatric and adult nephrology, transplant surgery, metabolic medicine, molecular and cell biology, clinical and molecular genetics) to discuss their common interest in Primary Hyperoxaluria. ? ? ?
