The Michael J. Fox Foundation announces its annual PD Therapeutics Conference in Chicago, Illinois on September 15, 2008. Chaired by Jeffrey Kordower, PhD, The Jean-Schweppe Armour Professor of Neurological Sciences and Director of the Research Center for Brain Repair at Rush University, the conference will highlight drug discovery and development for Parkinson’s disease.  

Select MJFF-funded investigators will present research on a variety of topics, including novel neuroprotective agents, innovative mechanisms to address disease symptoms and improvements in relevant animal models and biomarker discovery/development. 

Date: Monday, September 15, 2008 
Time: 8 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Location: Crowne Plaza Chicago Metro 

Registration Fees: 

Non-Profit / Academic
Early Bird (before July 15) - $125.00
Standard (after July 15) - $200.00 

For-Profit / Industry
Early Bird (before July 15) - $200.00
Standard (after July 15) - $275.00

Confirmed speakers for the meeting include:

Erwan Bezard, PhD
Anders Bjorklund, MD, PhD 
Patrik Brundin, MD, PhD
Piu Chan MD, PhD
Christopher G. Goetz, MD
Martin Goulet, PhD 
Alan S. Kopin, MD
J. William Langston, MD
Chenjian Li, PhD 
Mart Saarma, PhD
James D. Surmeier, PhD  

The Conference will also host a poster session featuring the following novel research in target validation and animal model development:

Tamas Horvath, DVM, PhD, Yale University – "Ghrelin Protects Nigral Dopamine Neurons"

Robert Nussbaum, MD, UCSF – "P1 Artificial Chromosome Transgenic Mice as Models for Progressive Parkinson's Disease"

Kalipada Pahan, PhD, Rush University Medical Center – "NBD Peptides in MPTP Mouse Model"

Qingmin Ruan, PhD, University of Alabama at Birmingham – "Validation of VPS41, a Protein Involved in Lysozomal Trafficking, as a Target for Parkinson's Disease Therapy"

Gretchen Snyder, PhD, Intracelluar Therapeutics, Inc. – "Development of Novel Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors for the Symptomatic Treatment of Parkinson's Disease"

Malu Tansey, PhD, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center – "Inflammatory Stimuli as 'Second-Hit' Triggers for Development of Progressive Nigral Degeneration"

Youren Tong, PhD, Brigham & Women’s Hospital – "LRRK2 and Parkinson's Genetic Mouse Models"

Registration is open for the PD Therapeutics Conference.
Please download the Payment and Billing Information form and register online here.

A small number of rooms have been blocked for Conference participants at the Crowne Plaza Chicago Metro Hotel. Please contact the hotel’s Customer Support team to reserve a room at 1-888-447-6675, prompt #1 for 'Group Hotel' or email at customersupport@groople.com. Please mention reference ID GPAI3V, when making your reservation. 

For more information on the meeting, please email research@michaeljfox.org.