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FIRST-TIME WORKSHOP TAPS INTO WORLD-CLASS ALS EXPERTISE More than 30,000 scientists from around the world will gather mid-October in Atlanta for the Society for Neuroscience’s annual meeting. It’s a prime place to exchange ideas about just-out research on the brain, spinal cord, and nervous system. But this year, the day before Neuroscience 2006 begins, the newest crop of neuroscientists — the graduate and postdoctoral students and junior faculty whose drive and enthusiasm power the basic ALS research that will find a cure — will be able to take advantage of a world-class tutorial delivered in part by Packard Center scientists. This year’s Neurobiology of Disease Workshop is a day-long series of lectures and dialogues that brings new researchers up to speed on what’s known about ALS genetics, pathology, cell biology, potential therapies and the design of clinical trials to test them. The workshop also includes other motor neuron diseases such as spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), which likely hold some neurodegenerative pathways in common. Formally titled “Motor Neuron Diseases: A Didactic Journey from Spinal Muscular Atrophy to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis,” the session will convene Friday, Oct. 13. Its emphasis is on ALS. “So many new areas of study have opened with ALS that it’s an effort even for seasoned scientists to keep up,” says Jeffrey Rothstein, who directs the Packard Center for ALS Research at Johns Hopkins and who helped plan the symposium. “So we’ve designed the workshop to cover truly useful clinical and therapeutic aspects of ALS as well as the newest finds in ALS biology.” Expert clinicians will present ALS and SMA patients, for example, as part of a review of the diseases. Rothstein hopes the session will also draw in scientists, seasoned or otherwise, who haven’t specialized in motor neuron diseases but whose studies and approaches could push ALS research in new directions. Because time’s provided for one on one discussions with presenting scientists, new or prospective researchers in the field often get feedback on fresh ideas. Presenters include Rothstein and fellow Packard Center researchers Don Cleveland, Jean-Pierre Julien, Elizabeth Fisher, Giovanni Manfredi and Wim Robberecht, all considered international experts in specific areas of ALS study. Harvard’s Robert Brown, Darryl De Vivo of Columbia University’s Neurological Institute are among other speakers. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke is the major supporter of the event, which has also traditionally been underwritten by the Society for Neurosciences (SFN). The Neurobiology of Disease workshops have been a valuable prelude to the SFN meetings for 25 years. Noted neuroscientist Serge Przedborski of Columbia University is this year’s workshop’s organizer. Registration is online at
www.sfn.org/registration during annual meeting registration. For questions, call 888-736-6690. Internationally, call 508-743-0137. Call center hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST. For more information, visit www.sfn.org. |
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