In this multi-year Conference Application, we request partial funding support for the 23rd Annual National Neurotrauma Society Symposium, which will be held in Washington, DC, November 10 and 11, 2005, as well as the subsequent four meetings. In order to facilitate attendance of a diverse spectrum of neuroscientists, the meetings are being held in conjunction with the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting. The program for the 2005 meeting will feature 18 invited speakers and 8 presentations selected from abstracts submitted by the membership. Speakers from outside the Neurotrauma Society have been specifically included to bring new insights into the field. The 23rd Annual Neurotrauma Symposium will focus on areas of controversy and debate in neurotrauma research. New areas of research in neuroscience, rich for translation into the neuronal injury arena, will be discussed. The meeting will provide an unusually good opportunity for cross-fertilization between clinical and basic science. The theme for the meeting will be New Insights on Mechanisms of Injury and Recovery - a Bridge to Improved Outcome after Neurotrauma. Special features of the meeting in 2005 will include discussions of how to improve clinical patient care and how to improve outcome measures in animal models of neurotrauma so that they are more clinically relevant. New insights into important endogenous recovery mechanisms will be discussed. Recent exciting experimental advances in combination strategies that permit regeneration after brain or spinal cord injury will be presented. And the latest clinical trial results for traumatic brain and spinal cord injury will be discussed. One of the foremost goals of the National Neurotrauma Society is to encourage student attendance by providing financial assistance in the form of travel grants and reduced registration fees as well as awards for outstanding abstract submissions. In addition, there are two sessions for open communications as well as a panel discussions led by Women in Neurotrauma Research. Specific information regarding the organization of future meetings is also discussed.
