SUMMER 2001 Newsletter

ISDN 2002 Meeting, Sydney

The 14th Biennial ISDN 2002 Meeting will be held in, Australia 31 January - 4 February 2002 (please remember that this will be summertime down under and ideal for all colleagues from colder climates!) and you are cordially invited to join us for one of the most stimulating conferences in developmental neurobiology. This meeting will focus on the latest advances in such key areas as:

• molecular basis of plasticity
• neural induction and patterning
• stem cell research
• axonal guidance
• inflammation and neurodegeneration

Truly one of the great international cities, Sydney combines the best qualities of many of the world's most attractive locations, providing scenic beauty, an abundance of activities, great beaches, a temperate climate and unique flora and fauna. Sydney is a cosmopolitan city with a relaxed lifestyle and a warm welcome for visitors. It also provides an excellent base from which to venture further afield to some of the great world heritage sites: Uluru (Ayer's Rock), Kakadu National Park, and the Great Barrier Reef. The 14th biennial meeting of the ISDN will be held at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre. Located on the waterfront at Darling Harbour, this complex provides a visitor with great conference facilities as well as several major tourist attractions, shops, restaurants and cafes. There are several major hotels in the vicinity with prices to suit a range of budgets. The area is just minutes away from the CBD, Chinatown, Sydney Aquarium and the famous Paddy's Markets. Darling Harbour is accessible by light rail and monorail, and is within walking distance of the central railway terminus which links with the rest of the city and its surroundings, including the opera house, the botanical gardens, the zoo and, of course, Bondi and Manly beaches.

You will find an abundance of first class accommodation as well as motels and backpacker facilities to suit the lesser budget. There is excellent public transport, diverse entertainment, cultural and historic sites and, to top it all, Sydneysiders are said to be some of the friendliest people in the world! Please come to the 2002 ISDN meeting and enjoy your stay in our great city.

Message from Ian Hendry ISDN President

I would like to extend a very warm Australian invitation for everyone interested in the development of the nervous system to come to the next meeting of the society. The meeting will be held in conjunction with the Australian Neuroscience Society in Sydney. This is the first meeting of the society outside the American/European axis during the northern winter and provides an opportunity for those of us from the Asia Pacific region to show off our science. It will also give our colleagues an excellent opportunity to meet with friends both new and old in the exciting environment provided by the backdrop of Sydney Harbour. Ralph Bradshaw has organised a very exciting program for this 14th Biennial ISDN 2002 Meeting. The plenary speakers Lloyd Greene, David Kaplan and Mu-ming Poo are at the cutting edge of their fields and are certain to give exciting talks. There will be an exciting array of symposia. In addition, we plan to introduce a new concept in the format of the meeting, which up to now has consisted of symposia given by the invited speakers and posters by others attending the meeting. The latter group tends to consist of the more junior researchers. We plan to run a competition based on the abstracts normally presented as posters. The most interesting and up-to-date abstracts from the junior researchers will be chosen and they will be expected to present their work as a short talk.

Scientific Program

Ralph Bradshaw, as the chair of the program committee, is continuing with the high standards of symposia set at the recent meetings of the society. The members of the ISDN 2002 Program Committee are Ralph Bradshaw (Chair), Perry Bartlett, Lynn Beasley, Ira Black, Ian Hendry, Caryl Hill, Kazuhiro Ikenaka, Paul Pilowsky, Michael Sendtner, Giulio Taglialatela, and Phil Waite.

A preliminary program for the Sydney meeting is attached and also see the Sydney 2002 website

Australian Neuroscience Society (ANS)

Australia is widely recognized internationally for its contribution to neuroscience. Australian Neuroscience covers a broad spectrum of interests with many highly successful national and international collaborations. The annual meeting of the Australian Neuroscience Society has been planned to follow the 2002 ISDN meeting, with 4th of February as a shared day for both societies. The two meetings will be in the same venue, with the ANS meeting following on from the ISDN meeting with an overlapping day. For details of the ANS meeting, contact the ANS officers listed below or http://www.ans.org.au/

New ISDN Task Force

Given that academic institutions around the world are undergoing changes to match the ongoing revolution in communication, technology and education, there are bound to be changes in national and international societies that should result in better service to their core missions. In consultation with Council, the Officers of the Society have appointed Dr. Norbert Koenig of Montpellier as the Chair of a Task Force that is to assess the present state of the Society and devise strategic plans for the future. The 3 person Task Force (Norbert Koenig, Arne Schousboe, and Vittorio Gallo) will meet on a regular basis via email and seek information as required from the membership at large or via bilateral discussions with similar task forces from other societies.

Treasurer's Report

The finances of the Society are in good order thanks to income derived from membership dues and income from the journal of the Society, the International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience. The bulk of the expenditures are related to the biannual meetings and their organization.

Secretary's Report

The office of the secretary has continued to process applications for membership and in consultation with the Council is instituting a student membership category at a cost of $25 for students and postdocs, which will not include a subscription to the journal of the society, the International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience. As in the past, 3 newsletters will be distributed during 2000-2002, via postal and electronic mail as well as posting on the ISDN Website. As part of the planned expansion of Council, to insure appropriate representation, four new Council members were elected to replace three outgoing members. The secretariat also began discussions with ASN and ISN officers to better serve our respective constituencies. Discussions with other regional and international societies over the next few years should better define how ISDN could best carry out its educational and scientific missions. This is a good time to start thinking about elections to take place in the Fall of 2001. We need to elect a President Elect to serve in that capacity from 2002-2004, and 5 members of Council to replace Andreas Faissner, Germany; Vittorio Gallo, USA; Kazuhiro Ikenaka, Japan; Norbert Koenig, France; and Ephraim Yavin, Israel. To that end, kindly send nominations to the Secretariat at

IJDN Editor's Report

IJDN has undergone a change in format during the last year with a new attractive multicolored cover and larger page format. A further change is the introduction of a referencing format that is more in line with that used by other neuroscience journals. IJDN is available .on line. as part of the Elsevier packet being negotiated with Institutional subscriptors worldwide. Individual electronic submission and subscription will soon be available to ISDN members. Watch this space for future announcements. Viktor Hamburger Award. The awardee for the Viktor Hamburger award for 2000 is Dr. Ronald Oppenheim of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Dr Oppenheim was honored at an Elsevier-sponsored reception for members of the IJDN Editorial and other guests at the 2000 Society for Neuroscience Meeting in paper in a Special Issue of IJDN celebrating the 100^th Birthday of Viktor Hamburger. Dr. Oppenheim and Dr. Jean Lauder, also of Chapel Hill, were Guest Co-Editors of this unique Special Issue.

In 2000 the Editorial Board of IJDN met for a second occasion at a special reception at the Society for Neuroscience. The reception was a more informal affair and judged to be a success by all who attended. It was hosted by Elsevier, Publishers of IJDN.

As the summer is now upon us and there is a traditional decrease in submitted manuscripts, we invite all ISDN members to submit manuscripts for prompt and fair review to help us maintain uniform manuscript flow. Also, our Editorial Board will be revampse send us a manuscript or suggestion.

Scotland!

Dr. John Edmond, President-Elect, discussed with Council plans for ISDN-2004 to take place in Edinburgh, Scotland at the end of July - beginning of August (the week before the Edinburgh festival) of 2004. The meeting will take place at the Edinburgh Conference Center a short 11 km from the heart of the City and not far from St. Andrews, Mecca for golf enthusiasts. Dr. Robert Miller has agreed to serve as Program Chair and appropriate committees are being formed.

Closing Comments

Our Society and the Journal it sponsors can proudly point to a string of successful meetings and filling a niche in the neurosciences outside of the more profession-oriented or mammoth meetings that tend to fill our calendar. The coming year will provide and exciting opportunity to carry out our first ever joint meeting with another Society, the Australian Neuroscience Society in a part of the world never visited by ISDN. It is certainly more important than ever that you let us know your thoughts as to what directions you think our Society should follow. The Secretariat will transmit all messages received on a monthly basis to the Officers and Council of ISDN and will strive to provide answers, when possible, to all queries posed. Please feel free to communicate with any of the officers. Specifically, do contact Ralph Bradshaw, Ian Hendry or Phil Waite if you have ideas or questions about the 2002 Meeting in Sydney. I know they look forward to hearing from you. Also, it is not too early to start thinking about Edinburgh and beyond in 2006 to a venue on this side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Stay in touch and have a safe and good summer!

Secretariat: