Organizers Of Meetings Research Articles

Neuropeptides in the New Millennium

Journal of Molecular Neuroscience 1 Volume 18, 2002 This issue of the Journal of Molecular Neuroscience encompasses several original studies on peptide drug design, pharmacology and delivery in health and disease, transcription and endocrinology aspects, protein processing and trafficking, pain, depression, and anxiety. These were original papers, submitted after the international neuropeptides 2001 meetings (2nd Joint Meeting of the European Neuropeptide Club [11th Annual Meeting] and the American Summer Neuropeptide Conference [11th Annual Meeting]).* Papers highlighted in the current issue emphasize the expanding nature of the neuropeptide field. Our current issue is honored to have original papers authored by editors of some of the journals devoted to peptide research, among them, are Abba Kastin, Peptides and J. Crawley, Neuropeptides. Their manuscripts touch upon very pertinent topics in neuropeptide research: peptide delivery to the brain and what can be learned from genetically manipulated mice—from gene to behavior. Meetings that cover single peptides or peptide families are held on a regular basis. Furthermore, future meetings of the European Neuropeptide Club (Ostend, Poland, Neuropeptides May 22–25, 2002: From Molecule to Man) will highlight themes related to drug design, pain, neuroprotection, and psychopathology. The American Summer Neuropeptides meeting (June 29–July 3, 2002, Marco Island, Florida) will highlight VIP, drug addiction, polymorphism, immunomodulation, and peptide biotechnology. Processing and trafficking is another major aspect of neuropeptide research. Once again, this issue is privileged to feature Richard Mains, a leader in neuropeptide processing and an organizer of meetings on the subject. The pharmaceutical industry, represented here by Daniel Hoyer, describes drug design, with somatostatin as an example. However, not all eminent peptide researchers will be able to read this issue. It is with great sorrow that I write these following lines to commemorate friends in the Neuropeptide field who are no longer with us.

A clearinghouse for scientific and technical meetings: Organizational and operational problems

AbstractThere has been much interest expressed in the formation of a clearinghouse for scientific and technical meetings. In spite of this interest, no clearinghouse has been formed. Whether or not there is a valid need for the existence of such a clearinghouse has not been proven, but in this paper it is assumed that the need exists. Discussion of the organizational and operational problems involved follows. These problems include: (a) definition of area and level of coverage of the subject matter of any given meeting; (b) definition of the geographic area from which the meeting will draw its attendance; (c) definition of the area of interest of the clearinghouse in the face of difficulties imposed by mission‐ or project‐oriented meetings and other interdisciplinary meetings; (d) attaining comprehensive coverage in spite of the difficulties in obtaining inputs from the organizers of government classified and other closed meetings, as well as from the organizers of ad hoc meetings; and (e) the need to ensure that the organizers of meetings will make use of the clearinghouse. Solutions to these problems will not yield to a simple approach, but will be obtainable only on the basis of careful study of the structure and dynamics of the national and international scientific and technical meetings network.