Support is provided for young scientists to attend an international conference on substance P and related neuropeptides to be held at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester, MA. Substance P was isolated and characterized in the early 1970's and its importance has been established in the intervening years. This meeting will bring together renown scientists with expertise in a number of areas including pharmacology, biochemistry, and molecular biology to discuss the recent exciting advances in our understanding of the role of substance P and related peptides in the functioning of the nervous system. Substance P has been implicated in the transmission of painful stimuli, in inflammatory responses, in arthritis and in inflammatory bowel disease. Moreover, substance P fibers innervate the vasculature including the coronary circulation. The aim of this meeting is to foster stimulating interchange between graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, junior and senior scientists in the hopes of providing new insights into the basic mechanisms by which substance P and related peptides act in the nervous system.
