11th Meeting of Hirosaki International Forum of Medical Science
~Emerging Frontiers in Brain Research-Crossroads of metabolic regulation, stress response and disease~

March 27-28, 2009
Communication Center of Hirosaki University School of Medicine

On behalf of the Organizing Committee, I would like to welcome all of you to the 11th Meeting of Hirosaki International Forum of Medical Science at the Communication Center of Hirosaki University School of Medicine, Japan.

Hirosaki International Forum of Medical Science had been organizing the annual meeting until 2006 aiming for the development of medical research in Hirosaki and broad interaction with the front-line researchers both in Japan and abroad.  Therefore, we are happy to organize the 11th meeting on March 27-28, 2009.

The objective of the 11th meeting of Hirosaki International Forum of Medical Science is to bring together scientists interested in the wide-ranging topics of the brain research.  In this symposium, we will especially focus on the crossroads where metabolic regulation, stress response and disease interact with each other.  The anticipated outcome from these intellectual interactions is that new ways of understanding the disease mechanisms will arise and result in the development of more effective strategies in the prevention and treatment of such disorders.

Finally, Hirosaki is an old town which attracts nearly a quarter million visitors annually.  I hope all participants would enjoy this exciting symposium in one of the Japan's most beautiful cities.

I look forward to seeing you in Hirosaki.
Kei Satoh, Meeting Chair

Organizing committee

Hiroki Ohkuma
Hiroshi Kijima
Katsuya Yamada
Ken Itoh
Kiyoshi Kurata
Koichi Wakabayashi
Mikio Shoji
Shinya Ueno
Sunao Kaneko
Tadaatsu Imaizumi