The Biochemical Topical Group had another fabulous year in 2006 sponsoring eight symposia, including two full-day symposia in collaboration with the Biochemical Pharmacology discussion Group (BPDG) of The New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS). The combination of symposia topics represents a diverse group of scientists interested in biochemistry, molecular biology, biomedical research, and related areas. Attendees came from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and from universities and medical center research facilities across the Eastern United States. The Symposia were held at the NYAS, without cost to our group. The NYAS moved from its mid-town location to its new spectacular home at 7 World Trade Center and the last two symposia were held in the new location.

The titles of this years programs were “Neurophysiological Anomalies in Schizophrenia: Potential Drug Targets or Biomarkers?” (Tuesday, January 24), “Disease Target Validation and Compound Evaluation Using Pathway Analysis Approaches” (February 28), “Life Without Oxygen: Molecular Mechanisms of Hypoxia ” (March 28, full day), “The Role of Notch Signaling in CNS Disorders” (April 25), “The Role of Cholesterol in the Etiology and Pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s Disease”(May 23), “New Developments in Ion Channel Biology and Drug Discovery” (September 26), “Multiple Targets for Alzheimer’s Disease: g-Secretase and Tau”(December 5, full day), and “Targeting Developmental Signaling Pathways in Cancer Stem Cells for Drug Discovery” (December 7th).

Each half-day symposium included 5-6 speakers and 8 scientists presented at the full-day March and December 5th symposia. Coffee breaks in the middle of each session provided opportunities for interactions. The New York Section commends Barbara Petrack, Ph.D., Chair, Biochemical Topical Group and the other members of the Executive Committee for organizing these fine events.