AChemS Association for Chemoreception Sciences Fostering Chemical Senses Research and Understanding Smell and Taste in Health and Disease c copyright NEWSLETTER Spring 2007 Message from the President Leslie Tolbert, PhD s president-elect last year, I had the that shows the most short-term promise working diligently on a new website for pleasure of leading the awards for clinical impact – leaving behind the our society. They are moving to a new Acommittee through the daunting important base of research upon which webmaster, and to save on costs are doing task of selecting the winners of many of translational breakthroughs will always much of the required data conversion AChemS’ awards from among an impres- depend. themselves. A major new feature of the sive array of nominees. This year as presi- website will be convenient e-commerce dent I am delighted to be working with an Scientific societies can play an important capabilities for payment of dues and annu- energetic and insightful Executive role in advocating for good research, prop- al meeting fees. The site is now live and Committee, which includes President- erly funded. This year, Diego and I have we know you will help us to identify Elect Diego Restrepo, Past-President developed a small federal liaison group unforeseen problems as they arise. I thank Chuck Derby, Program Chair Trese composed of several members of the exec- Tisha for her hard work on this project. Leinders-Zufall, Program Chair-Elect Tom utive and long-range planning commit- President’s Message continued on page 2 Finger, Secretary Scott Herness, and tees. The group includes Charlie Greer Treasurer Mike Michel, Councilors Linda and Michael Leon as well as the two of us, Barlow and Pam Dalton, and Membership and we will work in close communication Chair Nancy Rawson. Mike Meredith has with Barry Ache and John Ngai who sit on 2006 Newly Elected continued to lead the Industrial Liasion Council and can advise us of current Committee and Claire Murphy the events and trends. We all welcome your AChemS Officers Clinical Relations Committee with vigor, suggestions as we actively engage with and Debi Fadool has continued to be a NIH’s Center for Scientific Review, Peter Brunjes, PhD, President-elect most creative and energetic advisor on NIDCD’s Director of the Taste and Smell Nirupa Chaudhari, PhD, Councilor many AChemS activities. It has been an Program Barry Davis, and NIDCD Carol Christensen, PhD, Treasurer exciting year, with a number of important Director Jim Battey. Don Wilson, PhD, Program Chair Elect issues to face. Changes at L & L Management Services 226 Total votes were counted. Federal Funding and Scientific Advocacy Please join me in congratulating Tisha At a time when biomedical research holds Kehn, L&L’s team leader for AChemS, unmatched promise to improve the who was recently promoted to the position human condition, the NIH budget is flat- of 2nd Vice President of L&L and is now THIS ISSUE INCLUDES tening and is creating a situation none of Executive Director of AChemS. Lori us imagined: the payline at NIH is lower Anderson, who is L&L’s Vice President than it was in the early nineties and is and used to be our Executive Director, • Pictures from AChemS XXVIII expected to get worse before it gets better. assures us that Tisha will continue to be One can argue that in lean times the best our primary contact at L&L, attending to • AChemS 2006 Awardees of the best research will still be funded – all of the organizational aspects of our but our peer review system isn’t designed annual meetings and supporting the activ- • AChemS 2007 Election Results to distinguish excellence (and predict suc- ities of the AChemS Executive Committee cess) with the fineness of grain needed to year ‘round. • Job listings ensure that … Furthermore, tight finan- cial times can push us to fund the science New website Tisha and her staff at L&L have been 1 Message from President (continued) We will soon need to appoint a new (over 3 million pages!) by visiting to meet in the west. In 2008, the Executive Editor for Chemical Senses, to http://chemse.oxfordjournals.org/archive/. ISOT/AChemS meeting being organ- replace Barry Ache, as well as three mem- We are grateful to Claire Bird at OUP for ized by Program Chair-Elect Tom Finger bers of the Editorial Board. It’s not too this and for continuing her efforts to have will be held in San Francisco. On the late to suggest good replacements! the archive available on PubMed. 2005 recommendation of our Long Range Planning Committee, Tom and For your information, AChemS appoints Site of Future Meetings Tisha seriously considered several west- two of the five Executive Editors of the We are quickly outgrowing the Hyatt ern sites before making their final rec- journal. Others are appointed by ECRO Sarasota, and efforts to identify a new meet- ommendation for this site. and by JASTS. In 2006, Susan Travers ing site have a new urgency. Taking into graciously replaced David Smith as an account membership polls that consistently 2007 Annual Meeting AChemS Executive Editor, and the other have indicated a strong desire to stay in or I know you will find this year’s annual current Executive Editors are Drs. Robyn near Sarasota, Tisha Kehn and her L&L col- meeting exciting and stimulating. We Hudson and R.A. Steinbrecht from ECRO leagues have proposed a number of alterna- have made some changes to better inte- and Dr. Hideto Kaba from JASTS. We all tive hotels. Diego Restrepo will soon visit grate our industrial partners and clinical owe Barry a very special thank you for his the leading contender and report to the members into the program, and have dedicated and effective service as Executive Executive Committee on its appropriateness organized symposia on a wide variety of Editor since 1999. for us. Another popular idea that emerged topics. I can’t help promoting the from a 2005 poll was to alternate meetings Presidential Symposium, which will Let me also remind you that last summer, between east and west coasts. That appears highlight recent transformational Oxford University Press made available the to be too expensive an option, as we benefit advances in cellular imaging and control complete archive of Chemical Senses arti- from agreements for long-term relationships of cellular excitability. I look forward to cles. AChemS members who have activat- with hotels. Instead of alternating meeting our carrying on the tradition of intense ed their online access to Chemical Senses sites, we most probably will try to use the and collegial sharing of ideas that is the can find the complete online archive opportunity of joint ISOT/AChemS meetings hallmark of AChemS meetings.O Councilor’s Report on Student Travel Awards and Polak Junior Scientist Awards For the 2006 meeting, the Association provided funds for 33 student travel awards, ranging from $250 to $600.00 (total $11,100.00). In addition, 24 stu- Debra Ann Fadool, AChemS XXVIII program chair, pictured with Dr. John Dowling, Harvard University who delivered the Givaudan Lecture, dents received housing awards at the “Fishing for Novel Genes”. Hyatt. 2006 was the first year the Association was able to provide financial support for junior scientists to attend the meeting. This was made possible through a gener- ous gift from the Ernest Polak family. These awards are made based on financial need and scientific merit. In 2006, 12 junior scientists (7 domestic, 5 interna- tional) received up to $600 or $800 in support to attend the meeting in “The Monell Girls”, current and ex post-docs from Monell Chemical Sarasota. We anticipate being able to Senses Center, Philadelphia, PA. provide travel and housing support for Back row (from left) Drs. Catherine Forestell, Maja Petrova, Beth the same number of students and 10 jun- Gordesky-Gold, Catherine Peyrot des Gachons, Kristin Field, Michelle ior scientists for the 2007 meeting. Gallagher. Front row (from left) Mari Sandell, Yanina Pepino, Veronica Galindo-Cuspinera and Claudia Damhuis. 2 A Look Back at AChemS XXVIII 3 4 Prelude to AChemS XXIX Trese Leinders-Zufall, PhD ([email protected]) The 29th annual meeting of the Association docrine cells. The questions addressed by for Chemoreception Sciences will be held at this symposium is what role these the Hyatt Sarasota Hotel in Sarasota, chemosensory signaling elements play in Florida from April 25-29, 2007. The 2007 appetite regulation, specific satieties, gut AChemS program will include the follow- motility and glucose homeostasis. ing: • Contact chemosensory perception: From receptor to behavior: This symposium will Givaudan Lecture: present progress especially in functional Dr. Gene E. Robinson from the University characterization of specific receptors or of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana will be this receptor families in taste and pheromone year’s Givaudan lecturer. His research group perception. The focus will be on genetical- studies the regulation of social behavior. The ly tractable systems, mainly Drosophila research is integrative, involving perspectives and mouse, with a specific emphasis of the from evolutionary biology, behavior, neuro- role of receptors, on various social and sex- human pheromones and disagreement science, molecular biology, and genomics. ual behaviors. about the behavioral consequences of • Parallel processing by multiple olfactory exposure to these compounds. SYMPOSIA: subsystems: In addition to the two major • Genomics approaches to study • Connecting genetics and perceptual varia- chemosensory systems (main olfactory chemosensory receptors: In studying the tions: The theme of this meeting is to high- epithelium and vomeronasal organ), there genetics of chemosensory perception, light how information from the human are reports of several subtypes of tools such as bioinformatics analysis, genome project and human genetics is being chemosensory neurons or epithelial cells comparative genomics, and gene expres- applied to explain individual human varia- using distinct signal transduction cascades.