2017 meeting of the International Dose-Response Society

Note by Vince Giuliano

As in previous years, I am posting this note regarding the forthcoming 2017 annual meeting of the International Dose-response Society.  It will be held on the Campus of the University of Massachusetts in Amherst MA on April 18-19. 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, namely transposable DNA elements (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 2017 program looks at some of the highly practical and exciting applications of it.

Conference Program

The theme of the 2017 program is PRECONDITIONING IN BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE – MECHANISMS AND TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH, which is similar to that of last year’s program.

The announcement website for the 2017 meeting including registration information can be found here.  You can download a PDF for the actual program from that site.  This year the conference will also be livestreamed for free on the Internet, but you have to register for it. Instructions for doing so are also on that site.

From the preliminary conference program: “Low levels/doses of numerous stressors (e.g., exercise, intermittent fasting, hypoxia, heat, cold, radiation, electricity, toxins, chemicals/drugs) are known to stimulate a wide range of preconditioning/adaptive responses that may profoundly affect the success of medical interventions for a vast spectrum of disorders. Stressors that trigger adaptive responses also offer ways to enhance healthy aging, improve human performance, and prevent damage in tissues exposed afterward to injurious levels of stressors, including severe psychological stress. Leading researchers will present numerous examples of the adaptive response and show how understanding molecular mechanisms(s), optimizing dosimetry and selecting the appropriate stressors will be important in enabling scientific and technological advances that can translate into future benefits for society.”

A little funny anecdote.  As a child in about 1944 I recall dialog from a “B” Western movie that went something like this:

“Doc –  Befoah you go about pullin out that bullet, we best got to give him a shot of rotgut whisky.  You know he got a bad ticker and I ain’t sure he can take it otherwise.”

 Wonder about whether there is any science behind that thought?  Giving doses of whisky before medical operations was standard-operating-procedure in all Western movies.  Well, the conference has the answer.  In Session 1 of the 2017 Dose Response conference there is a presentation entitled:  Ethanol Ingestion Elicits an Anti-inflammatory Phenotype to Limit Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury by a Neutrophil-dependent Mechanism

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.”