IBANGS Annual Meeting Support

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society (IBANGS) is a young society dedicated to explication of brain mechanisms underlying behavioral and neurogenetic contributions to individual differences. Members employ a full range of model systems, including neural network modeling, C. elegans, D. melanogaster, rodents, non-human primates and humans. Genetic methods employed range widely, including multivariate statistical analyses of gene function, gene expression arrays/proteomics analyses, and gene targeting studies (random and targeted mutagenesis), studies of chimeras, selectively bred and inbred strains, and gene finding methods including linkage and association analyses of major genes and quantitative trait loci. Members include faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate and medical students in a wide variety of disciplines. The group has met 12 times since 1997, continues to attract new members, and now meets annually as a fully independent conference. Over the first four years of the current funding cycle (2007-2010), IBANGS has attracted an average of 100 meeting participants to each of the four meetings. This is an increase of approximately 25% over the average attendance from preceding years. The fifth and final meeting to be supported by the current R13 award will be held in Rome, Italy, May 19-22, 2010. The venue is the Istituto Superiore di Sanit`, the Italian equivalent of NIH. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has provided the bulk of the funding for the current R13 since 2003, and additional support has been provided by the National Institute on Aging, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and National Institute of Mental Health. The society's journal, Genes, Brain and Behavior (Wiley Publishing Ltd.), is now published eight times per year by the Society. This journal is entering its ninth year, is indexed by PubMed and achieved an impact factor of 3.975 in 2009, placing it 66th among 230 neuroscience journals. Subscription to the journal is a benefit of IBANGS membership. Neurobehavioral genetics has proven to be a vital research tool in the areas of alcoholism, mental health, child development, and human aging. Historically, studies in those areas have been represented in each of the scientific programs for IBANGS meetings to date. Support is sought to defray travel expenses for 20 students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty each year. From this group of 20 young scientists, 2 outstanding graduate students, 1 outstanding postdoc, and 1 outstanding junior faculty member are chosen to present talks, and they are invited to submit their papers to Genes, Brain and Behavior. This young society presents an opportunity to attract a core group of young investigators during their formative years to neurobehavioral genetics and the pursuit of research improving human health.