Experimental Biology 1998
San Francisco, CA
April 18-22

Demonstrating an interest in state-of-the-art anatomical science, as well as in the fine offerings of the City by the Bay, a recent record number of anatomists joined approximately 13,000 other participants at Experimental Biology (EB)'98 in San Francisco from April 18-22. President Bruce Carlson described the meeting as, "exciting and uplifting," while Executive Director Jim Olds was seen smiling as the EB attendance numbers were being updated on the last day of the meeting.

This years successful meeting, actually was planned in a New Orleans hotel room, nearly 12 months earlier at a meeting chaired by Kathy Svoboda and Bob Specian after a decision by the Executive Committee to increase support from 11 funded symposia to 16 based on the success of EB'97. At that meeting, Drs. Carlson, Haines, Tomanek, Tomasek, Drake and Plopper worked with the Association's Co-Program Chairs to sketch out the scientific program that eventually became Anatomy at EB'98.

This year's scientific program commenced on Saturday afternoon with the AAA Refresher Course in Early Embryology organized by Arthur Sinning, the C.J. Herrick Award Lecture by G.F. Streidter on the "Development and Evolution of the Telencephalon" and with Eric Olson's well-attended keynote address, "The Molecular Control of Cardiovascular Development". The evening ended with a socializer sponsored by Wiley-Liss.

Sunday's program included symposia on the "Interaction of Neutrophils and Epithelial cells, chaired by Dallas Hyde, "Myofibril Assembly", chaired by Don Fischman, "Advances in Cell Adhesion and Motility, "chaired by Karl Pfeninger along with the complete Cajal Club program which was organized by Cajal Club President Vivien Casagrande . On the policy side, Procter and Gamble co-sponsored a symposium on "Biomedical Graduate Programs in the Twenty-First Century" which was organized by Robert Cardell and Richard Drake. The afternoon ended with the thirtieth annual Pinckney J. Harman Memorial lecture on "The Formation of Pathways Linking Thalamus and Cortex: Evidence from Mutants and Experimental Manipulations" given by Ray Guillery. Sunday's evening festivities were highlighted by the AAA/Cajal Club Socializer which was supported by an educational grant from Wiley-Liss.

Monday's program included symposia on "Signals from the Cell Membrane to the Nucleus" chaired by Kathy Svoboda, "Vasculogenesis and Angiogenesis during Development" chaired by Robert Tomanek, "Quantitative Neurobiology and the Human Brain Project" chaired by Robert Williams and Mike Huerta and "Signaling Molecules and Tissue Interactions in Organogenesis" chaired by President Carlson. The AAA Business meeting followed the day's activities.

Tuesday was the teaching day for AAA. The Program, organized by Rick Drake and the Educational Affairs Committee began with a special lecture by H.J. "Pete" Ralston on "Teaching the Anatomical Sciences in 21st Century Medical Curricula: What should be Taught and Who Should Teach It??" The lecture was followed immediately by a symposium on "Integrating Computer-Aided Instruction", chaired by Kyle Rarey and Charles Plopper. Following a box lunch sponsored by Williams and Wilkins, there was another teaching symposium, this one on "Integrating Clinical Anatomy Through Medical Education", chaired by Art Dalley, President of the American Association of Clinical Anatomists.

Tuesday also saw symposia on "The Normal Aging Primate Brain" chaired by Doug Rosene, and "Pathological Oscillation in the Nervous System: Clues for Understanding Normal Brain Function", chaired by John Welsh. The afternoon ended with the R.R. Bensley Award Lecture by Keith Mostov on "Specificity and Regulation of Membrane Traffic in Polarized Epithelial Cells." The highlight of the evening was the AAA/Cajal Club Awards Banquet where President Carlson delivered an address about biology in the old Soviet Union based upon his experiences there during the 1960's.

EB'98 concluded on Wednesday with a symposium on "Gene Targeting and the Rebirth of Histology", chaired by Dr. O'Shea and the 4th Annual AAA/FASEB/NIH Minority Student luncheon. By all accounts, this was a successful meeting and should bode well for the EB'99 Meeting scheduled for April 17-21, 1999 in Washington D.C.