A report on the 6th AOSCE congress
Kazuyoshi Tsutsui, Secretary-General AOSCE
k-tsutsui@waseda.jp
The 6th Asia and Oceania Society for Comparative Endocrinology (AOSCE) congress
was held at North Bengal University, Siliguri, India during December 10-14, 2007. It was
a gathering of excellent scientists and enthusiastic personnel of comparative
endocrinology from different parts of the world. It was a wonderful opportunity to refresh
old and build new friendship during this congress. Many delegates had arrived Siliguri on
Dec 9 just prior to the starting date of the congress. The venue of the congress was
another attraction to all foreign delegates because this congress was held at the foothills
of Himalaya.
On Dec 10, Inaugural ceremony was started by a group song of Rabindranath Tagore
(Asia's first Nobel laureate who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913) performed by
the students of Indian Universities. Prof. H. R. Lin, President of the AOSCE declared the
opening of the 6th AOSCE congress followed by welcome speeches delivered by Prof. P.
Saha, Vice-Chancellor, North Bengal University and Prof. K. Tsutsui, Secretary-General
of the AOSCE. Then Prof. S. Ishii founder President of the AOSCE and Prof. Samir
Bhattacharya, Chairman of the national organizing committee of the 6th AOSCE gave
their valuable lectures. A number of Indian eminent scientists also delivered their lectures
during this opening ceremony. After completing the opening ceremony a special lecture
on method of scientific research was given by Prof. S. Ishii which profoundly stimulated
most of the young researchers of this society. After the end of the special lecture there
was a cultural program performed by local artists and the students of North Bengal Univ.
All the events were very attractive; especially some dances performed by Nepali students
of North Bengal University gave the audience an extra satisfaction. First day of the
congress was closed by the end of a dinner.
On Dec 11, scientific sessions on various topics were started after the plenary lecture of
Prof. H. B. Kwon. Prof. Kwon depicted the molecular aspects of GnRH and GnRH
receptors in amphibians. Prof. Kwon expressed that their findings may facilitate the
development of therapeutic drugs for the treatment of prostrate cancer. Scientific sessions
were organized in two different hall rooms where there were 19 invited lectures including
the invited lectures of Profs. Shelley Bhattacharya, R. Chakrobarty, N. Chattopadhyay, A.
Chakravarty, D. Mukherjee, P. Roy, G. B. N. Chainy, T. Oishi, A. J. Rao, J. Cockrem, H.
Sonobe, S. Sakurai, U. Rai, S. N. Kabir, A. K. Bhattacharyya, T. Subramoniam and A.
Duttagupta as well as 13 oral presentations during the whole day. Prof. J. Wingfield and
Prof. H. Vaudry, who are both outstanding scientists in the field of comparative
endocrinology in the world, unfortunately could not able to join the congress due to some
passport and visa related problems, however they had had a very strong desire to join this
congress. Prof. K. Tsutsui offered a plenary lecture in the afternoon on gonadotropininhibitory hormone (GnIH) in a new reproductive axis. Prof. Tsutsui presented the
discovery of GnIH, its mode of action and functional significance in terms of
comparative aspects. After the end of all scientific sessions there was a wonderful cultural
program followed by a dinner.
On Dec 12, there were 17 invited lectures and 6 oral presentations. The scientific
sessions of this day was started by the plenary lecture of Prof. K. Kubokawa. A genomewide survey of endocrine system in amphioxus was the title of the lecture of Prof.
Kubokawa. She pretty conclusively suggested that the complete pathway of sex
steroidogenesis first appeared in amphioxus in the course of evolution. Profs. Samir
Bhattacharya, K. Kim, H. Ueda, A. Urano, Tony Plant, F. Leung, N. R. Jana, S.
Chongthammakun, B. Senthilkumaran, R. V. Thampan, S. Malaivijitnond, M. Laloraya,
X. C. Liu, K. Datta, A. Karande and A. Bandyopadhyay presented very impressive
lectures. In the afternoon there was another plenary lecture offered by Prof. Y. Nagahama.
Prof. Nagahama is currently President of the International Federation of Comparative
Endocrinology Societies (IFCES). He presented on hormonal regulation of oocyte
maturation and ovulation in fish and starfish. Prof. Nagahama described that 17, 20DP is a key hormone for the induction of not only oocyte maturation but also ovulation.
He also presented several updates including the discovery of a novel type of P450c17 and
its physiological function. After the end of all scientific sessions there was a nice cultural
program followed by a dinner.
On Dec 13, there was an arrangement to visit Darjeeling, a mountain city at 7,500 ft
altitude to see Kanchanjangha snow peak (25, 000 ft altitude) of Himalaya by bus.
Delegates gathered a wide range of experience and enjoyed this trip. Buying Darjeeling
tea was an attraction to foreign delegates. After returning from Darjeeling trip, delegates
enjoyed Banquet where there were a variety of food and music to refresh everybody.
On Dec 14, there were also several invited lectures including Profs. S. I. Abe, J. Yu, S. K.
Gupta, R. Singh, D. Mukherjee, S. Majumdar, P. Chakraborty and S. S. Roy as well as
oral presentations. Prof. I. Parhar gave a plenary lecture at the beginning of the scientific
session of this day. Prof. Parhar presented on RFamide-related peptides as regulators of
GnRH neurons. After completing scientific sessions there was a ceremony for the best
poster prize. Ms. O. K. Oral, a foreign student of Prof. S. I. Abe at Kumamoto University,
Japan and Dr. R. Kundu, a student of Prof. Samir Bhattacharya at Visva-Bharati
University, India were awarded for this prize. Prof. Shelley Bhattacharya explained the
selection process. After that there was a general body meeting of the AOSCE where Prof.
K. Tsutsui, Secretary-General and Prof. J. Cockrem, Treasurer of the AOSCE gave their
reports to the AOSCE members. Then President of the AOSCE and Chairman of the 6th
AOSCE congress gave their valuable speeches and finally President of the AOSCE
declared the congress closed.
In conclusion, the 6th AOSCE congress was a wonderful congress. This congress gave a
plenty of opportunity to update the understanding of delegates with the current progress
of comparative endocrinology. I hope this congress has stimulated delegates to work
more to contribute the progress of comparative endocrinology in the region of Asia and
Oceania. Finally, on behalf of the AOSCE, I would like to forward my sincere thanks to
Prof. Samir Bhattacharya and the national organizing committee for providing their
tremendous efforts to success the 6th AOSCE congress.
Photos of the 6th AOSCE congress
Chairman of the NOC
Congress hall
Opening ceremony
Excursion for Himalaya