International Society for Neurochemistry

The ISNSchool, Xi’an 2012, February 13-17th, 2012

Call for applications for financial support, deadline: February 1st, 2012

The ISNSchool (Xi’an, 2012) is now accepting applications for financial support. Please send your application and references to:

or

Tel/Fax: 86 29 84777945

The applications for participation in the ISN School (Xi’an, 2012) will be limited to those within the Asian-Pacific region and can be submitted to the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) and selected by a School Organizing Committee formed by the members of the APSN and the LOC who are responsible for review of at least two letters of recommendations from faculties of department or university where the applicants are working and applicants’ CVs. Decisions will be made according to priority of applicants plus a first-in and last-out principle.

The ISN School (Xi’an, 2012) will be jointly sponsored by International Society for Neurochemistry (ISN), Asian-Pacific Society for Neurochemistry (APSN), Subcommittee of Basic Science of Pain of China Chapter of International Association for the Study of Pain (BSP-CASP), Translational Neuroscience Subcommittee of Chinese Associations of Physiological Sciences (TN-CAPS), Chinese Society for Neuroscience (CSfN) and will be organized with the support of the Institute for Biomedical Sciences of Pain(IBSP) and the Institute for Functional Brain Disorders (IFBD), The Fourth Military Medical University (FMMU) and The FMMU Tangdu Hospital.

The IBSP, in conjunction with the IFBD, is a scientific research body co-founded in January 2005 and is located and financially supported by University Tangdu Hospital of FMMU, in Xi’an city. The main project of the IBSP and the IFBD is to set up an advanced technical platform for translational research on pain, stress, drug addiction, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease from molecules to brain networks and behaviors. The IBSP will provide lecture rooms and laboratory facilities and technical aids required by the hands-on procedures during the whole period of the school.

1.Contact person:

Name(s): Professor Jun Chen

Address(s): Institute for Biomedical Sciences of PainInstitute for Functional Brain Disorders, TangduHospital, The FourthMilitaryMedicalUniversity, #1 Xinsi Road, Xi’an 710038, PR China

Tel No(s):+86-29-84777942

Fax No(s): +86-29-84777945

Email address(es): ;

2.Theme of School:

ISNSchool, Xi’an 2012

Pain: Neurochemical, electrophysiological and behavioral correlates

3.Place and date of the school:

Venue: Institute for Biomedical Sciences of PainInstitute for Functional Brain Disorders,

Tangdu Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, #1 Xinsi Road, Xi’an 710038, PR China

Date: ISNSchool, Xi’an 2012 is to be heldduringFebruary13-17th, 2012

4.Why select a topic of pain:

The problems of pain, in particular, chronic pain,are an increasing burden on healthcare systems and society at large. Population-based epidemiological studiessuggest 20-30% people over the globe suffer from chronic pain and/or pain-associated morbidities, such as insomnia, amnesia, cognitive decline, disabilities, and even depression. Now, it has become apparent that some neurochemical changes at the molecular (ion channels, neurotransmitters and receptors, protein kinases, etc.) and cellular (synapses, neurons, astrocytes, microglia, myelinating cells) levels initiated and maintained by the persistence of pain might be tightly associated with the pathophysiological processes of chronic pain and development of its morbidities, leading to dysfunction of the nervous system, especially the neural networks in the brain that result in abnormal behaviors of the sufferers.

To bridge the gap of changes between neurochemical substrates and neural networks / behaviors associated with pain, the main objective of the ISNSchool (Xi’an 2012) is to provide a platform enabling junior researchers, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students from fields of both neurochemical research and pain research to meet and exchange ideas and experiences. Meanwhile, we will invite world renowned researchers from both fields to teach the updated knowledge of pain and advanced behavioral, molecular and neurochemical techniques so as to enable participants to acquire new ideas and to learn new techniques and methods that may be beneficial to their future research.

5.Name of body organising the school and names of the members of the organising committee:

Organizers:

Asian-Pacific Society for Neurochemistry (APSN)

Institute for Biomedical Sciences of Pain(IBSP) and Institute for Functional Brain Disorders (IFBD), TangduHospital, The FourthMilitaryMedicalUniversity (FMMU)

School Organizing Committee:

Members from the APSN:

Peter T.-H. Wong, Singapore (APSN President)

Yukio Yoneda, Japan (APSN Secretary)

Andrew Lawrence, Australia (APSN Treasurer)

Akio Wanaka, Japan(APSNSchoolChair)

Ying-Shing Chan, Hong Kong (APSN Council member)

Xiao-Min Wang, China (APSN Council member)

Members of Local Organizing Committee (LOC):

Qian Wang, FMMU (Vice President)

Wei-Hong Yin, FMMU (Chief of Scientific Research Department)

Sheng-Xi Wu, FMMU (Vice Chief of Scientific Research Department)

Ying-Ming Feng, FMMU (Dean of GraduateSchool)

Yong-Sheng Zhang, FMMUTangduHospital (Dean)

Xia Jin, FMMUTangduHospital (Vice Dean)

Jun Yuan, FMMUTangduHospital (Chief of Department of Medicine, Education and Scientific Research)

Gong Ju, FMMU (CAS Member, Professor and Chair of Department of Neurobiology)

Jun Chen, FMMUTangduHospital (Professor and Chair of the IBSP, Vice Chair of the IFBD)

San-Jue Hu, FMMU (Professor of Department of Neurobiology)

Yun-Qing Li, FMMU (Professor and Chair of Department of Anatomy)

Liang-Wei Chen, FMMU (Professor of Department of Neurobiology)

Ming-Gao Zhao, FMMU (Professor and Chair of Department of Pharmacology)

Guo-Dong Gao, FMMUTangduHospital (Professor and Chair of Department of Neurosurgery, Chair of the IFBD)

Zhu-Yi Li, FMMUTangduHospital (Professor and Chair of Department of Neurology)

Hui-Zhong Zhang, FMMUTangduHospital (Professor and Chair of Clinical LaboratoryCenter)

Wei Zhang, FMMUTangduHospital (Professor and Chair of Department of Clinical Pathology)

Gang Zhao, FMMUXijingHospital (Professor and Chair of Department of Neurological Diseases)

Qing-Rong Tan, FMMUXijingHospital (Professor and Chair of Department of Psychiatry)

Yan Lu, FMMUXijingHospital (Professor of Department of Anesthesiology)

Zhen Li, FMMUTangduHospital (Lecturer of IBSP)

Yao-Qing Yu, FMMUTangduHospital (Lecturer of IBSP)

6.School program (day by day activities):

The ISNSchool (Xi’an, 2012) will provide a 5-day program including both comprehensive lectures and hands-on techniques associated with neurochemical, electrophysiological and behavioral correlates of pain.

Sunday, February12th,2012:AM8:00-PM12:00 registration & Hotel check-in
Day 1: Monday, February13th,2012
8:20- 8:30 / Photo-taking
8:30- 9:00 / Opening ceremony
9:00-10:00 / Lecture 1: Overviewof advances in neurobiology of pain
10:00-11:00 / Lab orientation followed by coffee/tea break
11:00-12:00 / (1) Interactions between school faculties and students
(2) Hands-on grouping (3 hours per unit, 5 participants/group, only one module for each participant)
Module 1: Behavioral+ Neurochemical (5 units)
Group 1 - Preparation of animal models of pain (1 unit)
Group 2 - Behavioral assays of pain (1 unit)
Group 3 - 32-channel multi-electrode-array recordings of somatosensory cortex in behaving rats suffering from acute pain (only demo, 1 units)
Group 4 – Immunocytochemistry+Confocal microscopy, Western blot, RT-PCR assays of brain tissues of rats (3 units)
Module 2: Behavioral+ Electrophysiological 1 (5 units)
Group 1 - Preparation of animal models of pain (1 unit)
Group 2 - Behavioral assays of pain (1 unit)
Group 3 - 32-channel multi-electrode-array recordings of somatosensory cortex in behaving rats suffering from acute pain (only demo, 1 units)
Group 5 - Preparation of culture cell samples for whole cell patchclamp recordings and Ca2+ imaging (2 units)
Module 3: Behavioral+ Electrophysiological 2 (5 units)
Group 1 - Preparation of animal models of pain (1 unit)
Group 2 - Behavioral assays of pain (1 unit)
Group 3 - 32-channel multi-electrode-array recordings of somatosensory cortex in behaving rats suffering from acute pain (only demo, 1 units)
Group 6 - In vitro 64-channel (8x8) multi-electrode array or patchclamp recordings of synaptic plasticity (2 units)
12:00-14:00 / Lunch
14:00-17:00 / Group 1 - Preparation of animal models of pain (1 unit)
Group 2 - Behavioral assays of pain (1 unit)
Group 3 - 32-channel multi-electrode-array recordings of somatosensory cortex in behaving rats suffering from acute pain (only demo, 1 units)
Group 4 – Immunocytochemistry+Confocal microscopy, Western blot, RT-PCR assays of brain tissues of rats (3 units)
Group 5 - Preparation of culture cell samples for whole cell patchclamp recordings and Ca2+ imaging (2 units)
Group 6 - In vitro 64-channel (8x8) multi-electrode array or patchclamp recordings of synaptic plasticity (2 units)
17:00-18:00 / Technical lecture 1: Advances in in vivo multi-electrode-array recording techniques
18:00-20:00 / Welcome dinner (sponsored by IBSP)
Day 2: Tuesday, February14th, 2012
9:00-10:00 / Lecture 2: Brain imaging of pain in humans
10:00-12:00 / Practical groups1 – 6 switch over
12:00-14:00 / Lunch
14:00-17:00 / Practical groups1 – 6 switch over
17:00-18:00 / Technical lecture 2: Advances in in vitromulti-electrode-array recording techniques
18:00-21:00 / Dinner and city night seeings (organized by IBSP)
Day 3: Wednesday, February15th, 2012
9:00-10:00 / Lecture 3: Animal studies of pain
10:00-12:00 / Practical groups1 – 6 switch over
12:00-14:00 / Lunch
14:00-17:00 / Practical groups1 – 6 switch over
17:00-18:00 / Technical lecture 3: Brain slice patchclamp recordings in pain research
18:00-21:00 / Dinner
Day 4: Thursday, February16th,2012
9:00-10:00 / Lecture 4: Pain-related synaptic plasticity in the brain
10:00-12:00 / Practical groups1 – 6 switch over
12:00-13:00 / Lunch
13:00-14:00 / ISN featured lecture: ‘How to prepare a 10 min talk’
14:00-17:00 / Practical groups1 – 6 switch over
17:00-18:00 / Technical lecture 4: Molecular approaches used in pain research
18:00-21:00 / Farewell dinner (organized by IBSP)
Day 5: Friday, February17th,2012
9:00-10:00 / Presentation by school participants
10:00-15:00 / Optional social activities (Transportation provided by IBSP free but need to pay the entry ticket):
visiting Emperor Qin’s Museum of Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses (110.00 RMB Yuan/each)
15:00 / Oversea faculties and students can arrange flights according to this schedule
Commentsby faculties and students:

7.Names and affiliations of School Faculty:

Overseas Faculties (supportedby ISN):

Professor Makoto Tominaga, M.D., Ph.D.

Division of Cell Signaling

Okazaki Institute for Integrative Bioscience

(National Institute for Physiological Sciences)

National Institutes of Natural Sciences

Higashiyama 5-1, Myodaiji

Okazaki, Aichi 444-8787 JAPAN

Phone: +81-564-59-5286 (Office), -5287 & -5288 (Lab), Fax: +81-564-59-5285

e-mail:

Professor Emiko Senba

Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology

WakayamaMedicalUniversity

811-1 Kimiidera, WakayamaCity

Wakayama 641-8509, Japan

Tel & Fax: +81-73-441-0617

e-mail:

Professor Bai-Chuang Shyu

Division of Neuroscience
Institute of Biomedical Sciences
Academia Sinica
Taipei, 11529, Taiwan
Tel: 886-2-26523915
Fax: 886-2-27829224

e-mail:

Professor Akio Wanaka

Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience

NaraMedicalUniversitySchool of Medicine

840 Shijo-cho, KashiharaCity

Nara, 634-8521, Japan

Tel:+81-744-22-3051

Fax: +81-74-29-8825

e-mail:

Professor Andrew J. Lawrence, PhD, FBPharmacolS

NHMRC Senior Research Fellow

Howard Florey Institute

Centre for Neuroscience

University of Melbourne

Tel: 03 8344 0414; Mobile: 0431 267795

e-mail:

Professor Peter T.-H. Wong

Department of Pharmacology

YongLooLinSchool of Medicine

NationalUniversity of Singapore

MD11, 10 Medical Drive, Singapore 117597

65-6516 3224/3266 (DID); 65-6773 0579 (Fax)

e-mail:

Local Faculties:

Faculties outside Xi’an (supported by ISN)

Professor Ji-Sheng Han MD

CAS Member and Professor

Neuroscience Research Institute

PekingUniversity

Beijing, PR China

e-mail:

Professor Zhi-Qi Zhao PhD

Professor

Institute of Brain Science

FudanUniversity

Shanghai, PR China

e-mail:

Professor Yong-Hua Ji PhD

School of Life Science

ShanghaiUniversity

Shanghai, PR China

e-mail:

Professor Longnian Lin, Ph.D.

Professor

Institute of Brain Functional Genomics

EastChinaNormalUniversity

e-mail:

Professor Jia-Shuang Wang

Department of Pain Medicine

RedCrossHospital

NinanUniversity

Guangzhou, PR China

e-mail:

LOC faculties(supported by LOC)

Jun Chen MD, PhD

Professor and Chair

Institute for Biomedical Sciences of Pain

TangduHospital, The FourthMilitaryMedicalUniversity

Xi’an, PR China

e-mail:

Yan Lu MD PhD

Professor

Department of Anesthesiology

XijingHospital, The FourthMilitaryMedicalUniversity

Xi’an, PR China

e-mail:

Sheng-Xi Wu MD, PhD

Professor

Department of Anatomy

The FourthMilitaryMedicalUniversity

Xi’an, PR China

e-mail:

Ming-Gao Zhao MD PhD

Professor and Chair

Department of Pharmacology

The FourthMilitaryMedicalUniversity

Xi’an, PR China

e-mail:

Hui Xu, MD, PhD

Associate Professor

Department of Neurobiology

The FourthMilitaryMedicalUniversity

Xi’an, PR China

e-mail:

Ceng Luo PhD

Lecturer

Department of Neurobiology

The FourthMilitaryMedicalUniversity

Xi’an, PR China

e-mail:

Zhen Li MD PhD

Lecturer

Institute for Biomedical Sciences of Pain

TangduHospital, The FourthMilitaryMedicalUniversity

Xi’an, PR China

e-mail:

Yao-Qing Yu MD PhD

Lecturer

Institute for Biomedical Sciences of Pain

TangduHospital, The FourthMilitaryMedicalUniversity

Xi’an, PR China

e-mail:

IBSP:

Office Secretary: Xue-Bing Li, Ya-Juan Yin

Technicians: Yan Wan, Xue-Feng Chen, Chun-Li Li, Ying-Li Wang, Yong Xiao, Fan Yang, Yan Yang, Xiao-Liang Wang

Doctoral students: Fang Xie, Zhen-Yu Zhao, Han Fu

Master students: Yan Xu, Jia-Rui Zhang, Yun-Fei Lu, Rui-Rui Wang, Fei Yang

8.Estimated number of students, estimated international and national distribution, and activities at the school (e.g. number of expected students, lectures, laboratory modules, posters, etc)

Estimated number of students and distribution:

National (China) =10

Asian-Pacific region =20

The school activities at the school

The school includes 8 1-hour lectures (4 lectures and 4 technical lectures), and 3 laboratory hands-on modules. Each laboratory module is composed of 5 units one unit lasts 3 hours. Totally, lecture time=8 hours, laboratory hands-on module time=45 hours. For details see as follows:

Lectures and technical lectures:

Lecture 1: Overviewof advances in neurobiology of pain

Lecture 2: Brain imaging of pain in humans

Lecture 3: Animal studies of pain

Lecture 4: Pain-related synaptic plasticity in the brain

ISN featured lecture: ‘How to prepare a 10 min talk’

Technical lecture 1: Advances in in vivo multi-electrode-array recording techniques

Technical lecture 2: Advances in in vitromulti-electrode-array recording techniques

Technical lecture 3: Brain slice patchclamp recordings in pain research

Technical lecture 4: Molecular approaches used in pain research

Laboratory hands-on modules:

Module 1: Behavioral+ Neurochemical (5 units)

Group 1 - Preparation of animal models of pain (1 unit)

Group 2 - Behavioral assays of pain (1 unit)

Group 3 - 32-channel multi-electrode-array recordings of somatosensory cortex in behaving rats suffering from acute pain (only demo, 1 units)

Group 4– Immunocytochemistry+Confocal microscopy, Western blot, RT-PCR assays of brain tissues of rats (3 units)

Module 2: Behavioral+ Electrophysiological 1 (5 units)

Group 1 - Preparation of animal models of pain (1 unit)

Group 2 - Behavioral assays of pain (1 unit)

Group 3 - 32-channel multi-electrode-array recordings of somatosensory cortex in behaving rats suffering from acute pain (only demo, 1 units)

Group 5 - Preparation of culture cell samples for whole cell patchclamp recordings and Ca2+ imaging (2 units)

Module 3: Behavioral+ Electrophysiological 2 (5 units)

Group 1 - Preparation of animal models of pain (1 unit)

Group 2 - Behavioral assays of pain (1 unit)

Group 3 - 32-channel multi-electrode-array recordings of somatosensory cortex in behaving rats suffering from acute pain (only demo, 1 units)

Group 6 - In vitro 64-channel (8x8) multi-electrode array or patchclamp recordings of synaptic plasticity (3 units)

School students’ oral presentations

In the morning session on the school Day 5, 6 students, two from each laboratory module will be selected to present summaries of their experimental results. Each oral presentation will be limited to10 min. Three of the 6 presentations will be awarded as gold, silver and bronze medals. Poster presentations of their own research from home is encouraged and poster discussion time will be arranged according to the number of posters.

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