The 56th Meeting of the American Society for Neurochemistry

/ABSTRACT This R13 application is to request support for the 56th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Neurochemistry (ASN) to be held April 18-22, 2026 in St. Charles, Missouri. The total expected attendance for the ASN 2026 meeting is ~500. Past NIH financial support for the ASN meeting has been critical for our goals of enhancing training for future neurochemistry researchers, and for implementing an attractive educational and professional development program. ASN continues to build its scientific program around four interwoven, but distinct, themes to accommodate the breadth of neurochemistry and to provide in-depth analyses of chosen topics: 1) Building the Nervous System, 2) Metabolism and Cell & Molecular Neurobiology, 3) Glial Cell Biology, and 4) Neurodegeneration and Neurodevelopmental Disease. These themes have been selected to increase our understanding of the cellular and molecular basis of neural development and disease. Each theme has one of the four Plenary/Presidential speakers and is represented in varying proportions each year based on the submission of session proposals from the ASN membership and neurochemistry community. ASN is strongly committed to representation at its meetings by scientists at all career levels and from geographical locations throughout the Americas. One of the major goals of ASN is to advance the education and recruitment of early career investigators. The ASN strongly supports these individuals through travel awards, mentorship, and various training workshops. In addition, recent representation of trainees/junior faculty in Symposia and Colloquia has been 40% for Chairs/Co-Chairs and 45% for speakers, demonstrating robust participation of early career investigators. The annual ASN meeting provides participants numerous opportunities to network, collaborate, and exchange ideas. There is also plenty of time for attendees to congregate informally. Multiple activities are planned during the meeting to enhance professional development of early career investigators including 1) career development sessions run by the early career development committee, 2) a student/postdoctoral fellow mingle for networking, 3) lunches with the plenary speakers, 4) participation in Public Forum and High School Day, 5) oral sessions selected from submitted abstracts, with an emphasis on presentations from trainees, 6) two poster sessions for sharing findings and receiving feedback, 7) to defray costs of attendance, travel awards for outstanding early career scientists are available, and 8) a job-posting site and opportunities for trainees to meet with potential future mentors or colleagues. The annual ASN meeting is a one of a kind scientific conference that brings bring together early career and established scientists to experience cutting edge neurochemistry and neurobiology and enhances the careers of early career investigators. Project Number: 1R13NS149647-01 | Fiscal Year: 2026 | NIH Institute/Center: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) | Principal Investigator: WILMA FRIEDMAN | Institution: AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR NEUROCHEMISTRY, Newton Highlands, MA | Award Amount: $20,000 | Activity Code: R13 | Study Section: Special Emphasis Panel[ZRG1 SCIL-T (80)] View on NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11392075