Dopamine 2020

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PROJECT SUMMARY This application is to request support for the Dopamine 2020 Meeting to be held in Montréal, Quebec, on May 18-21, 2020. This prestigious international meeting, which is by far the most comprehensive and largest of its type and is held approximately every four years, is focused on research on the brain chemical messenger dopamine, and on the multiple brain diseases associated with dysfunction of this system, namely Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, drug addiction, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and obesity. The purpose of Dopamine 2020 is to provide a forum for scientists with diverse backgrounds to interact and share their latest work and ideas on dopamine research. We anticipate that this opportunity will foster cross- fertilization among diverse basic approaches and accelerate the pace of discovery. Many thousands of basic science articles on dopaminergic mechanisms in normal brain function and the important disorders mentioned previously have been published in top scientific and biological journals, and the innovation and focus of this research is accelerating. The rapid pace of discovery has created a pressing need for a forum for investigators across various disciplines, including physiology, development, circuitry, and the multiple disorders in which dopamine plays an important role. This focused meeting provides an ideal venue, and many collaborations have developed at previous meetings. With support through the NIH, Dopamine 2020 will make substantive progress furthering three important goals. Aim 1) Stimulate new research and collaborations among attendees by identifying cutting-edge topics and techniques and appropriate scientists as speakers and poster presenters. Aim 2) Increase gender and underrepresented minority (URM) diversity within the leadership of the meeting and the planned Dopamine Society to be introduced at the meeting. Aim 3) Promote and support the development of the next generation of researchers working in this field by providing financial and career support for graduate students and post- doctoral fellows. The unique format of this meeting, with its wide scope of approaches, techniques, and orientation towards both basic and clinical aspects in the field is of immeasurable value to furthering worldwide understanding of the role of dopamine function in health and disease.