Note by Vince Giuliano
As has been the case in several previous years, I intend to attend the 2016 annual meeting of the International Dose-response Society which will be held on the Campus of the University of Massachusetts in Amherst MA on April 19-20. As regular readers of this blog know, my opinion is that non-linear responses at very low doses to a broad variety of stimuli is a fundamental characteristic of all biological entities at each of their multiple levels of organization. In various writings I have repeatedly pointed out how this property, broadly known as hormesis, is fundamental to biology and understanding of development and aging. It is likely to be a fundamental pillar of any emerging Grand Unified Theory of Biology. Non-linear responses to dangerous stresses, for example, trigger evolution by an identifiable mechanism(ref). Some of the articles Jim Watson and I have produced on this hormesis phenomenon are listed here. Suffice it to say that the International Dose-response Society is the central professional group concerned with hormesis, and the 2016 program looks at some of the highly practical and exciting applications of it.
Conference Program
The theme of the 2016 program is
Preconditioning in Biology and Medicine – Mechanisms and Translational Research — Building Biological Shields Against Disease and Injury
The preliminary program for the 2016 meeting including registration information can be found here.
From the introduction to the program: “A growing number of scientists, including toxicologists, pharmacologists, biostatisticians, epidemiologists, occupational and environmental medical researchers and others have begun to display considerable interest in the topic of hormesis, a dose response phenomenon characterized by a low dose stimulation and a high dose inhibition. While there are many professional societies that have a general interest in dose response relationships, none explicitly is devoted to the topic of understanding the nature of the dose response in general and hormesis in particular. The diversity of professional societies that may consider dose response issues, including hormesis, is nonetheless quite broad ranging from the agricultural to the biomedical and clinical sciences. However, nearly without exception, these societies tend to be strongly organized around professional advancement and not focused on specific scientific concepts. This makes the issue of hormesis one of diffuse interest across a broad range of professions. The present situation represents a major obstacle for the integrated assessment of the dose response in general and hormesis in particular. In order to provide intellectual and research leadership on the topic of hormesis, a professional association was created in 2005 called the International Dose-Response Society. The Society is dedicated to the enhancement, exchange, and dissemination of ongoing global research efforts in the field of hormesis. In addition, the Society also strongly encourages the assessment of the implications of hormesis for such diverse fields as toxicology, risk assessment, risk communication, medicine, numerous areas of biomedical research, and all other biological disciplines including relevant engineering domains dealing with the dose response. The International Dose-Response Society is administered by the School of Public Health & Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.”
Areas of interest
Pre- Post-Conditioning: Alzheimer’s Disease/Dementia Parkinson’s Disease Depression and PTSD Concussions/Traumatic Brain Injury Improving Surgical Outcomes Stroke/Cardiovascular Disease Diabetes Glaucoma Stem Cell Transplantation Therapy
Healthy Lifestyles, Aging and Life Extension:Intermittent Fasting Exercise Chemical/Nutritional Supplements Low Dose Radiation and Longevity Adaptive response-based cosmetics
Enhancing Human Performance: Cognition Endurance, Strength and Speed Fatigue/Jet Lag: Prolong Onset/ Speed Up Recovery Wound Healing Acceleration – skin, tendon, muscle, bone, and vascular.”
My colleague Melody Winnig and I hope to see you there.
