Molluscan Neuroscience Conference to be held February 13-16, 2009, at the University of Puerto Rico

该项目是为2009年2月13日至16日在波多黎各大学医学科学校园的独立单位神经生物学研究所举行的2009年Moluscan神经科学会议提供部分支持。这是自1997年以来第三次专门讨论软体动物神经科学的会议。其他会议是1992年和1997年在冷泉港实验室（CSHL）举行的大洋洲及相关无脊椎动物的细胞和分子生物学会议。这次会议的目标之一是加强该领域研究人员之间的互动，其形式和规模仿照90年代举行的CSHL会议。会议将汇集世界各地的专家和学生，在一个有利于互动、参与和讨论该领域最新思想和发现的环境中。它将汇集国际社会的神经科学家和学生，他们使用软体动物模型来研究广泛的基本神经生物学问题。会议和专题讨论会将讨论这一领域最具影响力的具体专题领域。这些包括：学习和记忆，中枢模式发生器，神经回路和行为的进化，发育，神经调节，离子通道和信号转导。重点将放在旨在增加这些资源对更广泛的神经科学社区的可访问性的平台上。研讨会将组织讨论新工具的使用，如新兴的泛子和相关腹足类基因组计划，头足类基因组学，单细胞和细胞室的基因组学和微化学分析，以及NeuronBank.org计划，用于存档已识别的神经元及其跨物种同源物。NSF基金将通过提供旅行、住房和注册支持来支持那些无法参加的研究生和博士后，从而实现多种教育和推广活动。重点将放在促进初级调查人员、妇女、波多黎各当地学生和在这一领域代表性不足的其他群体成员的参与。这种拓展反映了一种坚定的信念，即这种扩大参与的最大受益者将是软体动物神经科学领域本身。主办机构将提供与会议场地有关的行政支持和所有资金。

This project is for partial support of the Moluscan Neuroscience 2009 conference to be held February 13-16, 2009 at the Institute of Neurobiology, a free-standing unit of the University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus. This is the third conference dedicated exclusively to Molluscan Neuroscience since 1997. The other conferences were the Cell and Molecular Biology of Aplysia and Related Invertebrates meetings held at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) in 1992 and 1997. This meeting has as one of its goals to enhance interaction among investigators in the field with a format and scale modeled on the CSHL meetings held in the 90's. The meeting will bring together world experts and students in an environment geared towards interaction, participation and discussion of the latest ideas and findings in the field. It will assemble the international community of neuroscientists and students who use molluscan models to investigate a wide spectrum of fundamental neurobiological problems.Sessions and symposia will address specific thematic areas in which this field has been most influential. These include: Learning and Memory, Central Pattern Generators, Evolution of Neural Circuits and Behaviors, Development, Neuromodulation, Ion Channels, and Signal Transduction. Emphasis will be placed on platforms designed to increase the accessibility of these resources to the broader Neuroscience community. Workshops will be organized to discuss the use of new tools such as the emerging Genome Projects for Aplysia and related gastropods, cephalopod genomics, genomic and microchemical analysis of single cells and cell compartments, and NeuronBank.org initiatives for archiving identified neurons and their homologs across species. NSF funds will enable multiple educational and outreach initiatives by providing travel, housing, and registration support for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who could not otherwise attend. Emphasis will be placed on promoting participation of junior investigators, women, local students from Puerto Rico, and members of other groups that are under-represented in this field. This outreach reflects a firm conviction that the greatest beneficiary of such broadened participation will be the field of Molluscan Neuroscience itself. The host institution will provide administrative support and all funds related to the conference venue.