UMaine News

Neurogenetics Conference Scheduled (Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems news release)

Contact: Karen Cashman (207-973-6164)

(Bar Harbor, Maine)–World renowned neuroscientists and the Maine Institute for Human Genetics and Health’s Neurogenetics Consortium will gather this weekend at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratories to share and discuss the most leading issues in neurogenetics that affect the health of Maine people.

The newly formed Neurogenetics Consortium has a mailing list of 270 researchers, scientists, and geneticists from various institutions, universities, and colleges in Maine. The Maine Institute for Human Genetics and Health serves as a virtual hub to support the Neurogenetics Consortium, and promote collaborations between its members.

During the summer, consortium members have been collaborating on research proposals for the institute’s new seed grant competition in neurogenetics research, in which the institute has invested $220,000. Eight winning neuroscientist teams from around Maine will briefly present the work they hope to accomplish in the next year with these funds. 

Janet Hock, BDS, PhD, director of the Maine Institute for Human Genetics and Health says, “These activities support our mission to facilitate research in Maine that will ultimately lead to new treatments and decrease the risk of neurologic and psychiatric diseases in this state.  I am so impressed by the enthusiasm of the neuroscientists and clinicians in Maine to work together to form the Neurogenetics Consortium, and by the strong support and leadership from our collaborators at the University of Maine, The Jackson Laboratory, and The University of New England who helped to found this program.”

The consortium is also an important opportunity for students. “We are provided with an invaluable opportunity to network and connect with some of the top researchers in the neurosciences today,” says Jonathan Paul, a member of the Neurogenetics Consortium and graduate student in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Maine.

The Neurogenetics Consortium invited David Goldman, MD, chief of  neurogenetics at the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism, a leading expert in the neurogenetics of psychiatric illnesses such as alcoholism, substance abuse, and related health problems, to provide a keynote address on Friday. Other renowned researchers, including Jeff Hall, PhD, the Genetics Society of America 2003 medal recipient, from the University of Maine, will speak as well during the gathering. This weekend’s meeting was made possible by generous gifts from Healthcare Charities and The Maine Institute for Human Genetics and Health.

“Exciting research is currently happening in the Maine biomedical community. One intention of the consortium is to focus activity on promoting student participation in neurogenetics by recruiting talent and encouraging young people that they can pursue world class research in Maine. We are enthusiastic about this conference because it will provide the opportunity to grow research that is essential to support advances in understanding the risks and ways to treat neurological and psychiatric diseases in this state,” explains Maries Hayes, PhD, professor, University of Maine, and allied senior scientist at the Maine Institute for Human Genetics and Health.

For more information regarding this weekend’s Neurogenetics Consortium conference please contact Suzanne Spruce (207-973-5758) or Karen Cashman (207-973-6164) at EMHS Community Relations.