FASEB “NAD+ METABOLISM AND SIGNALING” CONFERENCE AND BEST POSTER PRIZE
SPONSORED BY EPPENDORF, AUGUST 9-14, 2015, TIMMENDORFER STRAND, GERMANY.
Last month I attended the “NAD+ Metabolism and Signaling” conference hosted by the Federation of
American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), at Timmendorfer Strand, Germany.
I was impressed by the excellent organization and quality of the scientific talks. It was a great
opportunity to exchange information and technologies with researchers working on the biochemical,
molecular, genetic and cell biological aspects of NAD and related molecules.
The number of participants was relatively small (just above 100) and this gave me the invaluable
occasion to discuss my research personally with several leading experts in the field. I also found it
extremely useful to attend talks that were not strictly related to my studies as it helped to
significantly broaden my general knowledge on the topic.
I found talks given by Professors Leonard Guarente (MIT) and David Sinclair (Harvard University) on
the involvement of NAD metabolism in aging and its translational potential particularly interesting.
In addition, Prof. Shin Imai (Washington University) group showed data on the identification of a
transporter for NAD-precursor NMN, which could be directly relevant to my studies. Of note, Prof.
Raul Mostoslavsky (Harvard University) presented his astonishing findings on the protective role of
the NAD-dependent protein SIRT6 against pancreatic cancer.
In addition to scientific talks, there was a session allocated for poster presentation and I had the
chance to present a poster on my research entitled “NAD-precursor NMN and axon degeneration:
downstream mechanisms and in vivo relevance”. I was amazed and pleased to notice the interest
and enthusiastic feedback my work generated. Indeed, the FASEB jury acknowledged the impact my
research could have towards understanding the role of NAD metabolism in axon degeneration and I
was awarded the Eppendorf prize for the best poster. After the prizes celebration, there was a
conference farewell by the sea with drinks and food. I thought that was a perfect way to celebrate
this achievement.
https://www.eppendorf.com/UK-en/about-us/news/#item_news-1505
Overall, it was a great experience. This is the second international conference I attend and I have to
admit that I really love the atmosphere at these meetings. I am now looking forward to my next
conference.
Andrea Loreto
2nd Year PhD student
Supervised by Laura Conforti