September 10, 2007

Workshop and Media Panel to Examine Latest Scientific Approaches to Childhood Neurological Disorders, Including Stem Cell Research

Gail Gallessich

Childhood neurological disorders will be the focus of a new and innovative workshop to be attended by more than 40 junior as well as senior neuroscientists from all over the country on September 16 – 19 at a ranch north of Santa Barbara in the Santa Ynez Valley. The promise of stem cell research as a tool to help overcome these disorders will be among key topics to be addressed. (The final discussion session will be open to the media.)

Kenneth S. Kosik, co-director of the Neuroscience Research Institute at the University of California, Santa Barbara, will chair the workshop with Jeffrey D. Macklis, director of the Massachusetts General Hospital-Harvard Medical School Center for Nervous System Repair. Children's Neurobiological Solutions (CNS), a private foundation, has organized the event. The foundation's chief scientist, Donald M. Marion, will be among the participants.

The mission of the CNS Young Neuroscientists' Workshop series is to expose outstanding young neuroscientists to emerging ideas about childhood brain disorders, with the long-term aim of influencing some of these young researchers to incorporate the study of these disorders into their career objectives.

Kosik, who is well known for his research on Alzheimer's disease, will present a talk entitled, "Career Focus? Developing the microRNA Story as a Means to Study Neuronal Plasticity and Impact on Neurodegenerative disease."

CNS developed the workshop, which will be held every other year, in order to accelerate and fund research for new brain repair and regeneration therapies for over 14 million children in the United States who struggle with neurological disorders. The foundation donates more than $1 million per year for basic research as well as clinical trials, and is a major supporter of stem cell research. Instead of focusing on a specific disease, CNS targets research on the developing brain and how it can regenerate and repair itself. This focus encourages collaboration among researchers and opens the way to new knowledge and therapies for the broad spectrum of childhood neurological disorders.

Marion recently joined CNS as science officer. An academic neurosurgeon who has focused on the pathophysiology and treatment of traumatic brain injury for more than 20 years, he is editor of the book "Traumatic Brain Injury."

About UC Santa Barbara

The University of California, Santa Barbara is a leading research institution that also provides a comprehensive liberal arts learning experience. Our academic community of faculty, students, and staff is characterized by a culture of interdisciplinary collaboration that is responsive to the needs of our multicultural and global society. All of this takes place within a living and learning environment like no other, as we draw inspiration from the beauty and resources of our extraordinary location at the edge of the Pacific Ocean.