DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) requests a U13 Cooperative Agreement grant in support of its Drug Discovery for Neurodegeneration conference, scheduled for February 1-2, 2010 in Houston, TX. The application is a competitive renewal of grant number: 2U13AG031125-02. The purpose of the meeting is to advance drug discovery for neurodegenerative disease by training the next generation of scientific leaders on the process of translating basic research into novel therapeutics. Formal education on this topic is needed because there is a documented knowledge gap in this area of research and there are very few opportunities outside of the pharmaceutical industry to learn about these processes. The goals of this didactic conference are clearly consistent with the NIH's Roadmap: to bridge the knowledge gap in drug discovery and neurodegenerative disease; to bring together interdisciplinary scientists to stimulate new ways of combining skills and disciplines; to provide networking opportunities for these scientists to exchange ideas and resources; and to ultimately publish the proceedings in a peer-reviewed, open access scientific journal. This two-day conference will give participants fundamental knowledge and resources on creating new drugs to treat and prevent neurodegenerative disease. It will address the barriers and challenges associated with the following sub-topics: Basics of Medicinal Chemistry; In- Vitro Testing: Early Phases of Drug Discovery; Pre-Clinical Proof-of-Concept & Development; Issues in Technology Transfer: Interactions & Intellectual Property; Case Studies; and Resources and Services for Advancing Drug Discovery. Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Multiple Sclerosis and Other Orphan Diseases will be included in the program. Sessions will consist of 3 to 5 presentations with ample time for Q&A. With respect to the public-private partnership initiative of the Roadmap, ADDF will invite 27 internationally recognized scientists from academia, industry and NIH to serve as chairs or speakers. It is anticipated that this conference will serve 150 scientists from diverse backgrounds, including women, minorities, young/junior investigators and graduate students.

PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The public health problem ADDF seeks to solve is to reduce the incidence of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. By offering this conference, ADDF will increase scientists' knowledge of the drug discovery processes and catalyze them to work together to develop commercially viable and effective disease modifying therapies.