This proposal requests partial support for an international meeting on Brain Energy Metabolism and Blood Flow as part of the Gordon Research Conference series to be held in Andover, NH, August 22 - 27, 2010. The broad and long term goal of the conference is to increase understanding of the fundamental mechanisms enabling and supporting normal brain function from the uninterrupted supply of nutrients, particularly glucose, and oxygen with an emphasis on the failure of these mechanisms which leads to neurodegeneration. The biennial Gordon research conference is devoted to the presentations of the results of frontline research on brain metabolism, cell signaling, cell-cell interactions and vascular regulation in the normal and injured brain. Therefore, the conference is a unique opportunity for senior and junior researchers alike to exchange state-of- the-art advances in methodology and concepts, as well as to outline promising avenues for collaborative research.
The specific aims of this meeting will be to convene 23 speakers that represent critical areas of neuroenergetics research with a total of 135 participants for a five day conference in a relatively isolated setting. The program will have a keynote address and eight sessions that broadly address current issues of brain blood flow and metabolism as vital to the normal mammalian nervous system and as bases for functional imaging. In addition, two evening poster sessions will permit all participants to contribute to these topics. The significance of this application is that the Gordon Research Conference is a critical component of the yearly series of conferences that propel research in the international community of neuroenergetics researchers. The health relatedness of this application is that dramatic progress has been made in the last decade in the fields of molecular biology, biophysics, and genetics of brain. The progress impacts on our understanding of brain energy metabolism, neural organization, cell signaling, and vascular regulation. In addition, new technologies have emerged to measure blood flow and metabolism with high spatial and temporal resolution. The stage is set to use this methodological progress to address fundamental issues related to the organization of brain function, blood flow and metabolic activity. We anticipate that progress in this field will drive new discoveries in the experimental and clinical neurosciences and affect diagnosis and treatment of stroke and other neurodegenerative disorders.
This conference is a unique opportunity to bring together senior and junior investigators to exchange state-of- the-art advances in methodology and concepts and to outline promising avenues for collaborative research in brain energy metabolism and blood flow. Progress in this field will drive new discoveries in the experimental and clinical neurosciences and affect diagnosis and treatment of stroke and other neurodegenerative disorders.
