FASEB SRC on Folic Acid, Vitamin B12 and One Carbon Metabolism

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal is for partial funding of a FASEB SRC conference on Folic Acid, Vitamin B12 and One Carbon Metabolism to be held in Steamboat Springs, Colorado in August, 2014. This conference has a long successful history and has been held every 2 years since 1986. It brings together scientists interested in the role of these essential B vitamins in human health and disease. This conference is unique because it is attended by scientists from many disciplines and areas of biology and medicine united in their interest in these vitamin dependent pathways. For example, PhD scientists studying folate-dependent enzymes and molecular biologists studying the genes important in this field meet for 5 days with MD clinicians studying vitamin deficiency diseases, clinical chemists evaluating diagnostic testing, and public health scientists charged with developing nutrition related public policy. This group was involved previously in important public health measures such as the folate food fortification mandate and investigations of the benefits of folate based vitamin therapy in vascular disease and dementia. The proposed program presents new information on these vitamin-related enzymes and metabolic pathways in liver diseases, hypertension, autism, neural tube and other birth defects. Information about benefits and possible risks with the mandated folate food fortification will be presented. The importance of folate and vitamin B12 nutrition in maternal-child health will be discussed. The proposed conference is an excellent training environment for junior scientists because the chance to present their latest work at a national meeting among experts in this area of metabolism will help them find collaborations, refine their scientific direction and practice lecturing in an informal atmosphere. The conference provides many opportunities to interact between attendees at meals, breaks, poster sessions and outdoor recreational facillities. These interactions have the potential to lead to basic scienc informed innovations in public health.