The First International Meeting of Asia Minor Branch of the International Neuropeptide Society 21-25 May, 2001, Antalya, Turkey
On 21-15 May, 2001 in Antalya, Turkey, the First International Meeting of Asia Minor Branch of the International Neuropeptide Society (INPS) was held in an atmosphere combining both science and friendship. Professor Dr Nese Tunçel from Osmangazi University Medical School, Eskisehir, Turkey, functioning as Chairman, did a superb job of organizing the Meeting. The Antalya INPS Meeting emphasized the increasing significance of neuropeptides and related molecules for the regulation of neural, immune and endocrine responses in physiological and pathological conditions. The Meeting was attended by renowned scientists, contributing to the recent advance in the study of neuropeptides and neurotrophins, including S.I. Said from USA, the discoverer of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), S.M. McCann, Doina Ganea, Pan Weihong, I. Rubinstein, and W.A. Banks from USA, L. Aloe from Rome, Italy, Rosa P. Gomariz from Madrid, Spain, and R. Ekman from Mölndal, Sweden. Their state-of-the-art lectures, as well as those presented by other participants, encouraged and facilitated creative discussions. Altogether, this culti vated much a new thinking about the therapeutic potentials of various neuropeptides and neurotrophins, particularly, VIP and nerve growth factor, respectively. All these events were organized in the atmosphere of a scientific family gathering in Falez Hotel placed on a Mediterranean sea bay of the beautiful Antalya. Here, we present the opening speech of Dr Tunçel and a set of selective abstracts of the Antalya INPS Meeting 2001.
