11th International Conference on Brain Energy Metabolism

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The 11th International Conference on Brain Energy Metabolism entitled "How Energy Metabolism Shapes Brain Function" will be held on May 11-14, 2014 at a conference center near Copenhagen, Denmark. This conference focuses on interactions between poorly-understood, critical aspects of energy metabolism and brain function, that include ion homeostasis and transport, roles of branched chain amino acids and glycogen, intracellular signaling, mitochondrial TCA cycle fluxes, and intercellular communication. Special-interest topics include, (I) oligodendrocyte metabolism and its abnormalities, which is an under-studied subject that is fundamental for brain function, (ii) novel contributions of glucose to neural pathology, and (iii) clinical aspects of brain metabolism in healthy aging and neurodegeneration. The reactions, fluxes, transporters, roles of signaling pathways in metabolism, interactions, and interactions between neurons, astroglia and oligodendroglia are still not adequately understood by neuroscientists in spite of their central importance to cellular function and disease. The major goal of this conference is, and has historically been, to serve as a driving force for cutting-edge discussions and formulation of incisive experiments, and for collaborations that open new areas of exploration of energy metabolism that underlie and contribute to brain diseases, including diabetes, aging, and traumatic brain injury. This goal will be achieved by a small, focused conference (about 100-120 attendees) that centers on brain energy metabolism and brings together the world's experts, students, and fellows who have a keen interest in this field. The program includes a keynote talk on the novel potential effects of a cerebral lymphatic system on energy metabolism and 32 invited speakers in eight scientific sessions on topics that focus on specific aspects of the continuum from interrelationships between transport and brain metabolism to the role of glucose in neural pathology, and aging and brain energy metabolism. Speakers include established experts and young investigators, with about 30% of the meeting time allocated for speaker-conferee discussions. Student-fellow presentations are an important aspect of the meeting and they are an effective tool to help bring a new generation of scientists into our community and foster their maturation by their inclusion as young investigator speakers and session chairs. Several young investigators are on the program as speakers. In addition, fifteen students/postdocs will be awarded travel stipends based on competitive ranking of their abstracts, as well as geographic distribution and ten young investigators selected by an evaluation committee will present talks in the poster-discussion session. Dedicated poster session time is enhanced by holding all coffee and refreshment breaks in the poster room to ensure informal discussions among conferees. Formal presentations and informal discussions among conferees are highlights of this unique conference series that fosters long-term scientific interactions to address emerging issues, and disseminates original research work and review articles by the conferees in a peer-reviewed special issue of a scientific journal.