NDDIC News

Recent NIDDK Conferences and Workshops

Phenotyping Obesity for Human Genetic Studies
October 28–30, 2003

The genetics of human obesity has been very intensively studied, with at least 10 genome scans already published. These scans have yielded a large number of suggestive genetic linkage findings. However, these studies have yet to result in the identification of many of the genes predisposing to obesity. Identification of these genes has proven difficult, as in the case of so many genetically complex diseases, because many genes, each individually contributing a small effect, influence predisposition to obesity, and because different genes may predispose to obesity in different individuals, even though these individuals may appear to have very similar phenotypes. During this workshop, a wide range of anatomical, physiological, behavioral, and developmental phenotypes relevant to obesity and its major medical consequences were considered. Experts in metabolism, imaging, endocrinology, and genetics recommended reliable, cost-effective, high-throughput methods for measuring morphological, physiological, behavioral, and developmental phenotypes associated with obesity that would be practical to implement in a large-scale human genetic study of 2,000 to 5,000 subjects.

Physiological Mechanisms Linking Obesity and Its Comorbidities
December 11–13, 2003

This conference investigated the mechanisms leading to the altered physiology and metabolism observed in obesity, particularly those that often lead to other comorbidities. For example, inflammatory response appears to be involved in cardiovascular disease, diabetes, asthma, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and osteoarthritis. Refining current classifications of fat mass as a better predictor of disease risks was considered. New knowledge will lead to new treatment and prevention paradigms. Such knowledge may serve to provide intermediate markers for intervention outcomes and an improved phenotypic characterization and identification of obesity over the currently used body mass index.

Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Screening, Diagnosis, and Management
April 1–3, 2004

The goals of this meeting are to assess the current status of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the United States, focusing on its prevalence and incidence, methods for screening, means of diagnosis and staging, and management, including the use of liver transplantation. The meeting will be jointly sponsored by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the National Institute of Bioengineering, Imaging, and Biotechnology (NIBIB), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The focus of the meeting will be to achieve agreement and develop recommendations based on current trends in the incidence of HCC; its epidemiology, high-risk groups, adequacy and effectiveness of screening in high risk populations, and means of early diagnosis; and optimal approaches to management and treatment including surgery, chemoembolization, radiofrequency ablation, and cadaveric and living donor liver transplantation. Another important aim of the meeting is to delineate the specific needs for future basic and clinical research on HCC. A summary of the meeting and its conclusions and recommendations will be submitted for publication. The speakers will be asked to give unbiased and scholarly overviews of the issues to support evidence-based recommendations.

Organ Innervation: Development, Disease, and Repair
April 15–16, 2004

Organ dysfunction as a consequence of neural defects or injury is a common and debilitating problem. The purpose of this workshop is to focus attention on organ innervation so that impediments to research in this area can be identified. An international group of investigators will convene to discuss innervation during development and disease progression and following injury. Developmental mechanisms underlying neural crest fate specification and migration to specific organs as well as factors that guide these processes and regulate neural survival will be considered. Mechanisms of neural injury, autonomic plasticity, and repair will also be emphasized. The workshop is intended to stimulate collaboration between investigators approaching the topic of organ innervation from developmental, disease, and repair perspectives. The workshop will also include a brainstorming session regarding areas of future scientific opportunity.

For additional information on these and other conferences and workshops, please visit www.niddk.nih.gov/fund/other/conferences.htm.

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NIH Publication No. 04–4552
May 2004