Saturday June 25
Centennial IV, located on the Ballroom level of the
Hyatt Regency Atlanta,
265 Peachtree St. NE
7:30 am – 5:30 pm

Environmental and Genetic Modifiers of FASD Outcome

Alcohol disruption of neuronal development is central to the pathology and clinical expression of FASD.  A central question for FASD research is to understand how similar alcohol exposures can lead to widely variable behavioral and pathological outcomes in different individuals. Thus, there is increasing interest in understanding the interaction between genetic and environmental factors that may modify these outcomes. The identification of these modifiers could offer new avenues for clinical interventions that prevent, attenuate, or even reverse the damage caused by prenatal alcohol exposure. To stimulate discussion and research into these ideas, we have invited speakers to discuss their own work on perinatal modifiers that influence CNS development and outcome. We hope these presentations will stimulate new research and strategies into the treatment of FASD.

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Preliminary Program (Download in PDF format)

 

7:30-8:00                  Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:00-8:15                   Welcome and Introduction of Program Theme, Susan Smith, Ph.D., President of FASDSG 

8:15-9:10                  Steven Zeisel, M.D., Ph.D.,Professor and Chair,Nutrition Research Institute, University of North Carolina.  Choline, Epigenetics and Links to Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.    Relevant PubMed Link1, Link 2
             

9:10-9:15                  Introduction of Travel Award Recipients

9:15-10:00                  FASt Data Presentations I– Pathogenic Mechanisms:  New Horizons

Fusun Gundogan, M.D., Women & Infants Hospital & BrownUniversity. Effect of late gestational ethanol exposure on fetal and placental development.

Yuanyuan Chen, B.S.,Indiana University School of Medicine. Cellular DNA methylation program during neurulation and its alteration by alcohol exposure.

Balapal S. Basavaraj, Ph.D., Nathan Kline Institute. Developmental ethanol enhances histone methyl transferase-mediated epigenetic modification.

Anjan Devaraj, B.Sc., Albany Medical College.  Inhibiting PKC-Epsilon prevents ethanol effects on axon outgrowth in hippocampal neuron cultures.

Tamara Bodnar, B.Sc. B.A.,University of British Columbia. Effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on the course of chronic inflammation: interacting influences of the stress & immune systems.

10:00-10:30                  Announcements, Introduction of Officer Nominees, Voting for New Officer, & Coffee Break
                                    (Download Nominee Statements in PDF format)

10:30-11:15                  FASt Data Presentations II – Clinical and Translational Science

Brian Coffman, B.S., University of New Mexico.  Delayed primary visual response in adolescents with FASD: an investigation of sensory processing using MEG.

Jessica O’Brien, B.A., San Diego State University.   Response Inhibition in children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure.

Tania Pomario, Ph.D. University of Cape Town. Executive function in South African children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.

Nicole Crocker, M.A., San Diego State University.  Children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure can be distinguished from children with ADHD on measures of spatial working memory.

Jessica Hanson, M.A., Sanford Health. Prevention of alcohol-exposed pregnancies among non-pregnant American Indian women.

11:15-11:50                  Business Meeting

11:50-1:00                  Lunch – Pitty Pat’s Restaurant, pre-purchased ticket required

1:00-1:55                  Michael Georgieff, M.D., Department of Pediatrics & Center for Neurobehavioral Development, University of Minnesota. The Role of Iron in the Developing Brain: a Translational Approach.   Relevent PubMed Link 1, Link 2

1:55-2:40                  Federal Agency Updates

§ William Dunty, Ph.D., National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism

§ Sally M. Anderson, Ph.D., Interagency Coordinating Committee on FAS

§ Louise Floyd, Ph.D., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

§ Dan Dubovsky, Ph.D., SAMHSA, FASD Center for Excellence

2:40-3:00                   Coffee break

3:00-3:25                  2010 FASDSG Merit Award Presentation: Kristina A. Uban, B.A., M.A., University of British Columbia. Altered cross-sensitization between d-amphetamine and stress in rats prenatally exposed to alcohol: implications for understanding vulnerability to addiction.  

3:25-4:00                  FASt Data Presentations III – Diagnosis and Therapeutic Research

Sharla Birch, D.V.M., M.S.,Texas A&M University. Prenatal ultrasonographic identification of neurodevelopmental defects in an ovine model of FASD.

Sridevi Balaraman, Ph.D., Texas A&M University. Circulating microRNAs as biomarkers for maternal ethanol exposure.

Suzanne de la Monte, M.D., M.P.H., Brown University.  PPAR agonist rescue of ethanol-impaired brain insulin signaling: ex vivo precision-cut cerebellar slice culture model.

Tanya Nguyen, B.A., San Diego State University.  The effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on choline metabolism: implications for how choline may moderate alcohol’s teratogenic effects.

4:00-4:15                  Discussion: “Environmental and Genetic Modifiers of FASD Outcome”

4:15-5:25                  FASDSG Henry Rosett Award Presentation

5:25-5:30                  Thank-you and Adjournment

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