You are cordially invited to the 2011 Philip Hauge Abelson Advancing Science Symposium: Breaching Barriers in Alzheimer's Disease, which will take place on Wednesday, 6 April 2011 at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
This special event, organized by AAAS in collaboration with The Agouron Institute and Science Translational Medicine, is free of charge for invited guests but advance registration is required.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) affects an estimated 4 to 5 million Americans, who progress from minor memory problems and behavior changes, to complete incapacity and loss of self, to death. As the Baby Boomer generation ages, it is estimated that the number of Americans with the disease will reach much higher. Although a handful of drugs can relieve symptoms, no treatments are available to safely halt or slow the disease. However, AD-related research is revealing the genetic and molecular factors that underlie the disease, the importance of neuroimaging and biomarkers to detect AD in its earliest stages, and new treatment strategies, including the development of vaccines and small molecule drugs. Research from the front lines of our efforts to combat Alzheimer's disease will be explored during the 2011 Philip Hauge Abelson Advancing Science Symposium.
The public program for the 2011 Abelson event will be as follows:
Morning Session
8:30 a.m.-8:40 a.m.
Alan I. Leshner, Chief Executive Officer, AAAS, and Executive Publisher of the journal Science
Welcome
8:40 a.m.-9:00 a.m.
John Abelson, President and Executive Director, The Agouron Institute
Session I: Glimpses into the Alzheimer's Brain
9:00 a.m.-9:30 a.m.
David M. Holtzman, Andrew B. and Gretchen P. Jones Professor and Chairman of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine
Overview of Alzheimer's Disease: Why We Need Biomarkers
9:30 a.m.-10:00 a.m.
Mark A. Mintun, Chief Medical Officer, Avid Radiopharmaceuticals
Imaging Molecules and Pathways in Alzheimer's Disease
10:15 a.m.-10:45 a.m.
Alison Goate, Samuel and Mae S. Ludwig Professor of Genetics in Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine
New Insights into the Genetics of Late-Onset Alzheimer's Disease
10:45 a.m.-11:15 a.m.
Dennis J. Selkoe, Vincent and Stella Coates Professor of Neurologic Diseases, Harvard Medical School
The Molecular Complexity of Alzheimer's Disease
11:15 a.m.-11:45 a.m.
Steven M. Paul, Director, Helen & Robert Appel Institute for Alzheimer's Research, Weill Cornell Medical College
From Genetics to Molecular Pathways to Rational Treatments
11:45 a.m.-Noon
Questions & Answers
David M. Holtzman, Mark A. Mintun, Alison Goate, Dennis J. Selkoe, and Steven M. Paul
Session II: Aberrant Cells and Proteins in Neurodegenerative Disease
Marc Tessier-Lavigne, Executive Vice President of Research, and Chief Scientific Officer, Genentech Inc.
Session Chair
1:00 p.m.-1:30 p.m.
Jeffrey W. Kelly, Lita Annenberg Hazen Professor of Chemistry, Scripps Research Institute
Restoring Protein Homeostasis in Neurodegenerative Disease
1:30 p.m.-2:00 p.m.
Mathias Jucker, Professor of Cellular Neurology, Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tubingen
Propagation of Misfolded Proteins in the Brain
2:00 p.m.-2:30 p.m.
Richard I. Morimoto, Bill and Gayle Cook Professor of Biology
Stress Responses and Chaperone Networks in Neurodegenerative Disease
2:30 p.m.-2:45 p.m.
Questions & Answers
Jeffrey W. Kelly, Mathias Jucker, and Richard I. Morimoto
Session II Continued: Aberrant Cells and Proteins in Neurodegenerative Disease
Li-Huei Tsai, Director, Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Session Chair
3:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m.
Steven Finkbeiner, Senior Investigator and Associate Director, Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease
Can Common Threads Guide Therapeutic Development in Huntington's and Alzheimer's Disease?
3:30 p.m.-4:00 p.m.
Don W. Cleveland, Professor of Medicine, Neurosciences, and Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California at San Diego
Neurodegenerative Disease: More Than Just the Neurons
4:00 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
Serge Przedborski, Page and William Black Professor of Neurology, Columbia University
Cell Death Cascades in Neurodegeneration
4:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m.
Richard Ransohoff, Director, Neuroinflammation Research Center, Cleveland Clinic
Neuroinflammation's Tipping Point: Myeloid Cells in Alzheimer's Disease
5:00 p.m.-5:30 p.m.
Andrew Dillin, Associate Professor, Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory, Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Targeting Aging, the Greatest Risk Factor for Alzheimer's Disease
5:30 p.m.-5:45 p.m.
Questions & Answers
Steven Finkbeiner, Don W. Cleveland, Serge Przedborski, Richard Ransohoff, and Andrew Dillin
RSVP / More information
Additional information on the 2011 Abelson event is online.
Advance registration is required to attend this free event.
Please contact Angela Bradley at (202) 326-6408 with any questions.
About Philip Hauge Abelson
Science editor emeritus Dr. Philip Hauge Abelson was one of the most extraordinary scientists of our age. The quality and range of his work was astounding. He made major contributions to physics, geology, geochemistry, geophysics, and molecular biology. His positions of leadership and service on national advisory committees enabled him to shape national science and technology policy. And under his 22-year tenure as the editor-in-chief of Science, he took the journal to a new level of quality and prominence.
One of the most remarkable aspects of Dr. Abelson's role as AAAS senior adviser and Science editor emeritus was that his interests focused on the cutting edge and the future, not the past. He founded and sponsored "The Advancing Science Seminar Series" to encourage participants to think about where science is going, not where it has been. The series has since been renamed in his honor.