Fourteenth & Fifteenth International Symposia on Neurobiology & Neuroendocrinology of Aging - Project Summary
The Fourteenth and Fifteenth International Symposia on Neurobiology & Neuroendocrinology
Aging will be held in Bregenz, Austria July 15-20, 2018 and in July 2020. The purpose of these
meetings is to bring together a group of investigators who made recent advances in the study of
mechanisms of aging, with particular emphasis on CNS aging, neuroprotection and
neurodegenerative disease. Moreover, the endocrine system and metabolic dysfunction tie many
additional aging research areas together (genomic instability, mitochondrial dysfunction,
cellular senescence, epigenetic changes, loss of proteostasis, deregulated nutrient sensing, stem
cell exhaustion, inflammation). We are directly addressing several of these topics in this
Symposium, many in the context of neurobiology and endocrinology. Prominent among the
scheduled lectures are the continued search for mechanisms of age-related disease, increasing
appreciation of concomitant involvement of multiple interacting mechanisms, and attempts to
evaluate their relative importance. Recent studies significantly increased appreciation of
mediators of potential aging retardation, calorie restriction, hormone deficiency and rapamycin.
Similarly, modulation of health and disease by translational dietary intervention will be
addressed. As the field continues to search for and study regenerative mechanisms, talks
devoted to reprogramming of aged tissue and rejuvenation are included. Several lectures will
integrate information in neurobiology with aging, redox state, plasticity, and mitochondrial
dynamics. Progressive changes in the age profile of human populations underlies enormous
significance of age related neurodegenerative disease and cognitive impairment. The latest
breakthroughs in our understanding of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's disease will
be covered in multiple lectures, further strengthening this link. Each of these topics will be
covered by investigators that recently made major advances in the corresponding areas of
investigation. We purposely include a wide range of topics and assemble a group of scientists
that may not normally attend the same meeting. The format of the meeting is modeled after
Gordon Research Conferences and encourages formal and informal discussions of the material
presented. Proceedings will be published as a special issue of Experimental Gerontology within
approximately six months after the Symposium. We have always strongly encouraged the
participation of junior investigators, including graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. This
proposal seeks funds for providing stipends to those US participants who are in training or are
in junior faculty positions and who are planning to present their findings in the poster session.
We are also seeking partial support for the expenses of invited speakers from the United States.
