The 5th Oxford Conference on Modeling and Control of Breathing which will be held at Lake Louise (Alberta, Canada) from 19-24 Septemeber 2006, will be a high profile meeting in the areas of modeling and respiratory control, focusing on an important area of research which has tremendous implications for our understanding of many diseases such as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), sleep-related breathing disorders including Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), asthma, Rett Syndrome, etc. The first Oxford Conference started in September 1978 at the University of Laboratory of Physiology in Oxford by the late Dr. D.J.C. Cunningham (Oxford), R. Hercynski (Warsaw) and others, who saw a need to bring physiologists and mathematicians together in order to address the critical issues in understanding the control of breathing. Relevant topics in respiratory control that will be covered at this conference include integrative physiology and modeling, central integration and neuromodulation, rhythm generation and plasticity, chemosensory transduction and signaling, pre-and post-natal development and post-genomic perspectives. Since the inaugural meeting in 1978, the Oxford Conference on Modeling and Control of Breathing has been held every 3 years and host countries have included the USA (1982, 1988, 2000), Japan (1991), United Kingdom (1994), France (1985, 2003) and Canada (1997). The 5th Oxford Conference will offer a unique forum for respiratory physiologists, clinicians, neurobiologists, modelers and biomedical engineers from around the world to exchange ideas and present their latest genomic perspectives. Goals of the conference include: 1) To educate scientists, physicians and trainees in the latest findings and developments and physiology of cardio-respiratory control; 2) To integrate basic and clinical scientists with specific interests in cardio-respiratory control and to reveal new insights into this field of research; 3) To encompass integrative approaches that encourage new conceptual and computational models of breathing in intact organisms; 4) To foster interactions between senior scientists and trainees/new upcoming scientists. ? ? ? ?
