Conference: Support for SRBR Meeting, Jacksonville, Florida, May 22-25, 2002

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The Society for Research on Biological Rhythms is now the largest society in the world for those interested in biological rhythms, and this award supports their biannual meeting. Biological rhythms are an important feature of life on this planet, and so the topic has major importance, and there have been rapid recent advances in understanding underlying mechanisms of rhythmic biological activity. The conference is highly interdisciplinary in the approaches discussed, including molecular biology, physiology and behavior, computational neuroscience and neuroendocrinology, and in topics spanning subsecond oscillations in motor systems, intertidal rhythms in invertebrates, reproductive cycles, human sleep and shift-work schedules. The format is an excellent combination of lectures, workshops, and poster sessions, emphasizing interactions between workers from different fields, and women are well represented, along with the international community. The biannual timing allows a good perspective, and this year will cover some of the most exciting current issues, such as the recent discovery of a link between the circadian clock gene Per (from the fruitfly) and a genetically controlled sleep pattern in humans. The potential impact of this conference is high in the fields of neuroendocrinology and behavioral neuroscience, because of the focused discussions shaping future work, the potential to develop new cross-disciplinary collaborations, and the likely interactions and introductions essential to career development of young investigators. Funding from NSF will be important to help students, postdocs, and young researchers without access to other funding to attend the conference.