Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease and conditions such as stroke disrupt the quality of life for patients, extracts an enormous emotional and physical strain on caregivers, and cost society billions of dollars annually. Increasing numbers of elderly people in the population has resulted in a sharp increase in the prevalence of these neurological conditions. Underlying a majority of these disorders is the abnormal degeneration of neurons. In most instances, the etiological causes are unknown and they have a progressive development. While symptomatic treatments are available for many neurodegenerative disorders, drugs to reduce or prevent the neuronal loss in patients have yet to be identified. Intense research over the past few years has generated a rich and complex body of information about the mechanisms and pathophysiology of neurodegenerative conditions. This knowledge has provided the opportunity to find novel targets for drug development and resulting in the initiation of several promising clinical trials.

The conference focuses on the latest and most exciting research findings in the identification of novel molecular targets and the development of potential therapeutic strategies for neurodegenerative conditions. We have an excellent list of speakers from academia, industry and government whose presentations will cover a range of topics within the area of neurodegeneration and therapy and with information from cell culture models to clinical trials.

The conference will take place in Boston on Monday, October 10 and Tuesday, October 11. Please bring this conference to the attention of your colleagues, post-doctoral fellows and students who may benefit from attending the meeting. Please register early and submit an abstract. Come to Boston earlier or stay later and enjoy the many historic and cultural delights of this beautiful city.

It will be my pleasure to welcome you to the first annual conference on Therapeutic Strategies against Neurodegenerative Conditions in Boston.

Sincerely,

Santosh R. D'Mello, Ph.D.
Conference Chairperson

AGENDA

DAY 1 - Monday, October 10, 2005
7:15	Registration and Breakfast
8:15	Opening Remarks
8:30	Neuroprotective Approaches to Alzheimer's Disease
	John Davis,
	GlaxoSmithKline
9:00	Amyloid-based Therapeutic Strategies for Alzheimer's Disease
	Rusell Rydel, Ph.D., Vice President, Pharmacology
	Elan Pharmaceuticals
9:30	Drug Development Targets and Strategies for Neuroprotection and Neurorestoration in Alzheimer's Disease
	Martin Tolar, M.D., Ph.D, Director, Clinical Strategic Partnerships
	Pfizer Global Research
10:00	APOE4 and Alzheimer's Disease: From Susceptibility Gene Variant to Clinical Trial to New Drug Discovery
	Ann Saunders, Ph.D., Therapy Area Team Leader, Metabolic & Viral Diseases
	GlaxoSmithKline
10:30	Refreshment Break and Exhibiting
11:00	KEYNOTE SPEAKER
	Steve M. Paul, Executive Vice President, Lilly Research Labs
	Eli Lilly & Co.
12:00	Lunch
1:00	Parkinson's Disease:  Mechanisms and Models
	Serge Przedborski, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Center for Neurology and Behavior
	Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
1:30	The Therapeutic Potential of Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor Ligands in the Treatment of Neurodegenerative Disease
	Michael Marino, Ph.D., Neuroscience Drug Discovery, Movement Disorders
	Merck Research Labs
2:00	The Role of Iron and Glutathione in Parkinson's Disease:  Toward Rational Therapeutics
	Julie Andersen, Ph.D., Professor
	Bucks Institute for Age Research
2:30	Neuroprotection and Neurorepair:  Small Molecule Approaches for Parkinson's Disease
	Michael J. O'Neill, Principal Research Scientist/Team and Project Leader, Neurodegeneration Group,
	Eli Lilly (UK)
3:00	Refreshment Break and Exhibiting
3:30	Therapeutic Strategies for the Disease Modification of Alzheimer's Disease
	J. Steven Jacobsen, Ph.D., Associate Director, Neuroscience
	Wyeth Research
4:00	TBA
	Mark A. Findeis, Ph.D., Vice President of Research
	Satori Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
4:30	TBA
	David A. Lowe, Chief Scientific Officer
	Memory Pharmaceuticals Corporation
5:30	Networking Reception
DAY 2 - Tuesday, October 11, 2005
7:15	Registration and Breakfast
8:15	Recap of Day 2
8:30	Signal Transduction
	Zewei Huang, Ph.D., Professor
	The Burnham Institute
9:00	A Delicate Balance: Neuronal Life and Death
	Carol Troy, M.D., Ph.D, Associate Professor of Clinical Pathology and Neurology
	Taub Center for the Study of Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain
	Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
9:30	Regulatory Pathways that Control Repair and Regeneration
	Lee Rubin, Ph.D., Executive Vice President of Research and Chief Scientific Officer
	Curis, Inc.
10:00	The Transcription Factors Activated by Oxidative Stress that May Mediate Protective or Deleterious Responses
	Rajiv Ratan, M.D., Ph.D, Neurology
	Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School
10:30	Refreshment Break and Exhibiting
11:00	KEYNOTE SPEAKER
	Kevin A. Roth, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Neuropathology
	University of Alabama at Birmingham
12:00	Lunch
1:00	Neurodegeneration Approved Drug Screening and Therapeutics Development
	Jill Heemskerk, Ph.D., Program Director, Technology Development
	National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH
1:30	Neuroprotection by 3' Substituted Indolones
	Santosh R. D'Mello, Ph.D., Professor, Dept of Molecular & Cell Biology
	University of Texas at Dallas
2:00	Therapeutic Potential fo Supressing CPK's
	David Park, M.D.
	University of Ottowa
2:30	Potential Use of Mood Stabilizing Drugs for Neurodegenerative Diseases
	De-Maw Chuang, Ph.D., Chief, Section on Molecular Neurobiology
	National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health
3:00	Refreshment Break and Exhibiting
3:30	TBA
	James Wang
	En Vivo
4:00	TBA
	Barbara Slusher, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Research
	Guilford Pharmaceuticals
4:30	Oral Presentations of Selected Abstracts
	To Be Announced on the GTCbio Website
5:00	Conference Concludes

*****On October 11th there will be concurrent sessions on the business and licensing aspects of emerging therapeutics.