Symposium: Synthesis of Physiologic Data from the Mammalian Feeding Apparatus using FEED, the Feeding Experiments End-User Database, Salt Lake City, Utah

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The physiology of mammalian feeding has proven to be a fertile ground for research amongst experimental biologists. Over the last 40 years, researchers have been particularly interested in understanding the physiology and functional anatomy of two behaviors that distinguish mammals from other vertebrates: suckling and chewing. In this symposium, experts on mammalian feeding physiology will highlight a newly developed database, the Feeding Experiments End-User Database (F.E.E.D.), through presentations of comparative and functional analysis of suckling and chewing between and within the major groups of mammals. Some of the presentations will also highlight the major gaps in our understanding of mammalian feeding physiology, with an eye toward generating new research avenues and approaches in the field. F.E.E.D. was developed as a means of storing and sharing physiological data to promote collaborations across labs and support meta-analysis of mammalian feeding physiology. Presentations in the symposium will include data that will be made available in F.E.E.D. from the major research labs around the world. As access to the database will ultimately be made available to other researchers and the general public, a major goal of the symposium is to promote the use of F.E.E.D. We will also solicit feedback on database functionality and the potential for expansion to include other vertebrate groups. Additional broader impacts of this work include training of graduate students and post-doctoral associates, some of which are co-authors on talks or presenters in the symposium.