Conference: Support for SRBR Meeting, Jacksonville, Florida, May 22-25, 2002

对于那些对生物节律感兴趣的人来说，生物节律研究学会现在是世界上最大的学会，这个奖项支持他们两年一次的会议。生物节律是这个星球上生命的一个重要特征，因此这个话题非常重要，最近在理解节律性生物活动的潜在机制方面取得了迅速进展。会议讨论的方法是高度跨学科的，包括分子生物学，生理学和行为学，计算神经科学和神经内分泌学，以及运动系统的亚秒振荡，无脊椎动物的潮间带节律，生殖周期，人类睡眠和轮班工作时间表。其形式是讲座、研讨会和海报会议的完美结合，强调来自不同领域的工作者之间的互动，女性以及国际社会都有很好的代表。一年两次的时间安排提供了一个很好的视角，今年将涵盖一些最令人兴奋的当前问题，比如最近发现的生物钟基因Per（来自果蝇）与人类基因控制的睡眠模式之间的联系。本次会议在神经内分泌学和行为神经科学领域的潜在影响很大，因为重点讨论塑造了未来的工作，发展新的跨学科合作的潜力，以及对年轻研究者的职业发展至关重要的可能的互动和介绍。来自NSF的资助对于帮助没有其他资助的学生、博士后和年轻研究人员参加会议非常重要。

The Society for Research on Biological Rhythms is now the largest society in the world for those interested in biological rhythms, and this award supports their biannual meeting. Biological rhythms are an important feature of life on this planet, and so the topic has major importance, and there have been rapid recent advances in understanding underlying mechanisms of rhythmic biological activity. The conference is highly interdisciplinary in the approaches discussed, including molecular biology, physiology and behavior, computational neuroscience and neuroendocrinology, and in topics spanning subsecond oscillations in motor systems, intertidal rhythms in invertebrates, reproductive cycles, human sleep and shift-work schedules. The format is an excellent combination of lectures, workshops, and poster sessions, emphasizing interactions between workers from different fields, and women are well represented, along with the international community. The biannual timing allows a good perspective, and this year will cover some of the most exciting current issues, such as the recent discovery of a link between the circadian clock gene Per (from the fruitfly) and a genetically controlled sleep pattern in humans. The potential impact of this conference is high in the fields of neuroendocrinology and behavioral neuroscience, because of the focused discussions shaping future work, the potential to develop new cross-disciplinary collaborations, and the likely interactions and introductions essential to career development of young investigators. Funding from NSF will be important to help students, postdocs, and young researchers without access to other funding to attend the conference.