NIH and UAF to host national neuroscience conference

Submitted by Carla Browning
Phone: (907) 474-7778
05/26/06

The National Institutes of Health and the University of Alaska Fairbanks will host the sixth-annual National Conference of Specialized Neuroscience Research Programs at the Wedgewood Resort May 31-June 2, 2006. Nearly 200 scientists from around the country will participate.

During the three-day conference, some of the nation’s leading experts will discuss the latest research on brain diseases such as stroke, HIV, Alzheimer’s disease and depression.

Story Landis, director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, and Steve Heinemann, president of the Society for Neuroscience, will be keynote speakers at the event. Dr. Neil Murphy of the International Union for Circumpolar Health will present a lecture.

A May 31 conference workshop, "Arctic Peoples and Beyond: Decreasing Health Disparities through Basic and Clinical Research,"? will feature some of the nation’s leading experts discussing the latest research on stroke, HIV/AIDS, alcoholism, substance abuse and suicide. Experts will present research findings at the June 1-2 scientific sessions.

During the conference, UAF will present the first-ever Sven Ebbesson Award for Excellence in Neuroscience. The award was named to recognize Ebbesson’s contributions to Alaska and to the university. Ebbesson was a professor at UAF, the director of the Washington-Alaska-Montana-Idaho medical program and the leader of the Alaska Siberian program. Students competing in poster sessions will be eligible to receive the newly established NEURON travel award.

The conference is sponsored in part by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health. The NINDS and several NIH institutes and centers currently support 12 Specialized Neuroscience Research Programs across the country, including a program at UAF. The programs support the collaboration of leading neuroscientists and are part of a larger effort to deliver the benefits of research to Americans living with diseases and disorders affecting the nervous system.

Note to editors: Space is limited. Media are welcome to attend and encouraged to interview experts. Following the conference, the Alaska Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience is sponsoring a public lecture on the affects of binge drinking. Visit www.uaf.edu/news or www.ninds.nih.gov/ for more information.

CONTACT: Mary Van Muelken, coordinator at (907) 474-7029 or e-mail fyabnp@uaf.edu or Carla Browning, media relations manager at (907) 474-7778 or carla.browning@uaf.edu.