APS to present scientific abstracts at Experimental Biology 2013

Presentations to be made at Experimental Biology 2013 Meeting

The American Physiological Society (APS) is one of six scientific societies sponsoring the meeting Experimental Biology 2013 (EB 2013), being held April 20-24, 2013 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center (BCEC), in Boston, Mass. The APS has programmed some 2,700 scientific abstracts for this year's meeting and dozens of symposia. Program highlights, with times and locations include:

Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine Lecture:

Unraveling Smell: How are we able to differentiate between smells? How does the brain remember them? Nobel Laureate Linda Buck, Ph.D., from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Wash., went looking for answers. In 2004 she, along with Richard Axel, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for work on olfactory receptors. Dr. Buck will deliver this year's Laureate lecture as part of the APS's annual meeting. (Wednesday, April 24, 4:45 p.m. Location: BCEC, 210BC)

New Experimental Approaches to Human Brain Function in Health and Disease:

The last decade has seen an explosion in discoveries about the brain. This symposium brings together four nationally recognized experts in brain research who approach a variety of human brain functions and disorders throughout the lifespan from: early brain development and the evolution of human cognition and its maldevelopment in idiopathic mental retardation; to how the human brain makes decisions in health and in diseases such as Parkinson's disease; to the analysis of neurotransmission and neuromodulation in adult psychiatric disease; to the study of cellular and signaling processes in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. (Sunday, April 21, 8 a.m. Location: BCEC, 208)

Eating Disorders:

The first cases of anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) were diagnosed more than 80 years ago; binge-eating disorder (BED) was first recorded in 1959. These most deadly of psychiatric disorders are not easily understood and treatment protocols are often found wanting. However a shift has recently occurred to understand eating disorders as biological conditions. Four lectures in this symposium will offer a discussion of how the use of animal models has resulted in novel mechanisms and treatment targets for possible use in understanding and ultimately treating these disorders. (Tuesday, April, 23, 3:15 p.m. Location: BCEC, 210BC) (Note: Part of the program, Physiology In Focus: From Animals to Human Models of Disease)

Sex-Based Differences in Exercise Metabolism:

Men and women are certainly different, and those differences are readily apparent in each gender's physiological response to exercise. Four lectures will address how differences in male and female metabolism, both during and after exercise based on other factors, can be linked to differences in body composition, insulin sensitivity, and inflammation. Attendees will take away from this symposium an up-to-date view of the sex-based differences in various aspects of metabolism-fat, protein, and post-exercise recovery-and be able to link this into a comparative view of how men and women adapt to various forms of chronic exercise training. (Wednesday, April, 24, 10:30 a.m. Location: BCEC, 206A)

Emerging Concepts in Understanding Mechanisms of Diabetes:

The Diabetes Health Center reports that more than half of all Americans may develop diabetes or prediabetes by 2020 unless prevention strategies aimed at weight loss and increased physical activity are widely implemented. Key to prevention is effective research and the five lectures in this symposium will address kidney function, endocrine function and insulin resistance, cardiac and vascular function, role of muscle mass in insulin resistance, cell physiology and adipogenesis, and stem cell differentiation. This session will provide new insights and emerging concepts about the pathology of obesity and diabetes on many different physiological systems. (Wednesday, April 24, 2:30 p.m. Location: BCEC, 2l0A)

Animal Models of the Irritable Bowel Syndrome:

Basic and Translational Implications: It is not clear why patients develop irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Currently there is no cure for the disease, only treatment designed to alleviate symptoms. One challenge for the development of novel and effective treatments is the lack of animal models that recapitulate all aspects of IBS. This symposium, comprised of four lectures, will address how recent animal research has contributed to our understanding of IBS and the development of new treatment strategies. (Sunday, April 21, 3:15 p.m. Location: BCEC, 210BC) (Note: Part of the program, Physiology In Focus: From Animals to Human Models of Disease)

The Role of Psychological Stress and Depression in Determining Cardiovascular Disease Risk - The Use of Animal Models and Clinical Applications:

This symposium brings together clinical and basic science researchers who examine the role of stress and depression on cardiovascular disease (CVD) development as well as the impact of inflammation. Lecturers are international experts in the fields of cardiovascular behavioral medicine, vascular biology, psychoneuroimmunology, and stress neurobiology. The six lectures will address the role of the renin angiotensin system (the hormonal system that regulates blood pressure and water in the brain during stress), the impact of early life stress on cerebral vascular function, the role of inflammation as well as clinical studies and treatments centered on stress, and depression and CVD risk. (Wednesday, April 24, 8 a.m. Location: BCEC, 205C)

Lessons from New Animal Models of Cystic Fibrosis:

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system of about 30,000 children and adults in the United States. The disease is caused by a mutation in the gene that encodes a protein called cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), which functions as a chloride channel at the surface of airways and moves chloride out of the cells. This symposium will explore how new animal research has produced novel models that recapitulate key features of CF disease, providing new insights into how CTFR gene disruption occurs and informing new therapeutic thinking that may lead to new treatments. (Monday, April, 22, 3:15 p.m. Location: BCEC, 210BC) (Note: Part of the program, Physiology In Focus: From Animals to Human Models of Disease)