INA-12

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant) This proposal requests partial support for the International Neurotoxicology Association (INA)-12 Meeting, June 7-12, 2009, at Ma'ale Hachamisha Kibbutz Hotel and Convention Center in the outskirts of Jerusalem, Israel. The broad and long-term goal of the Conference is to increase our understanding of fundamental and applied aspects of neurotoxicology, with a strong emphasis on Gene-Environment Interactions in Neurotoxicology. The specific aims of this meeting are: 1) to invite 35-40 outstanding speakers from around the globe that represent the critical and diverse areas of neurotoxicological and neuroscience research, and 2) have these scientists present and discuss their findings with 200 participants during a five day Conference in a relatively isolated setting. The program will commence Sunday evening with a keynote lecture by Dr. Hermona Soreq, Dean, Faculty of Science, Hebrew University, and Jerusalem, Israel. The title of Dr. Soreq's planery lecture is "Molecular Biology Approach to Neurotoxicology". The eight sessions will broadly address current issues in the field. The two sessions on Monday will focus on 1) Gene-Environment Interactions and Neurodegeneration in Non-Mammals, and 2) Gene-Chemical Interactions in the Developing Nervous System: Proliferation, Neurogenesis and Differentiation. The two sessions on Tuesday will present: 1) Advances in Novel Signaling in the Expression of Neurotoxicity, and 2) Strategies for In Vitro and Developmental Neurotoxicity Testing. The two sessions on Thursday will address: 1) Environmental Contaminants and the Neuroendocrine System, and 2) Peaceful Use of Disastrous Neurotoxicants. The final session on Friday morning will focus on Gene-Environment Interactions in Parkinson's Disease. In addition, two Symposiums organized and presented by students participating in graduate programs in neurotoxicology will round out the oral presentations (Tuesday PM, June 9 and Thursday AM, June 11). Two evening poster sessions (Monday, June 8 and Thursday, June 11) will permit all participants to contribute to these and other topics in neurotoxicology. The significance of this application is that the INA Conference series has become a major venue that propels research in the international community of researchers and educators involved in all aspects of neurotoxicology, foster career development of scientists entering the field, and promote collaborative research activity with an international scope. The health relatedness of this application is that the discussions stimulated by the presentations of leading authorities in the field of neurotoxicology will define the major questions that require experimental resolution in areas that affect human neurological heath. Thus, the Conference is likely to shape future research in areas of developmental exposures to degeneration associated with the aging nervous system, as well as the interaction between the environment and genetics in precipitating neurodegeneration, the latter being chosen as the main theme of this meeting (INA-12).