MedSci 2007 Round-up

Bruce Smaill
PSNZ, Monday 3 December 2007

MedSci 2007 was held in Queenstown from 27th to 30th November 2007 at Rydges Lakefront Resort, Queenstown.  While attendance was a little less than for previous meetings, this was the best Medical Sciences Congress yet. Professor Peter Agre, who won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2003, presented a superb keynote lecture on aquaporins. Within this presentation, he focussed on young scientists emphasising the excitement and rewards of a career in science. Professor Miranda Grounds (University of Western Australia), spoke on stem cell therapy in the maintenance of skeletal muscle mass and function. Symposia topics included Stem Cell Therapy: From Bench to Bedside, Ion Channels and Transporters in Disease, Heart Disease in New Zealand – Advocating for Change, Reverse Engineering the Heart - Translational Heart Research in New Zealand, and Metabolic Diseases and Diabetes - The Next Epidemic.  Dr Robin Olds, new CEO of the Health Research Council of New Zealand spoke about development of new HRC policies and the likely direction of Health Research Funding in New Zealand.

The meeting also provided an opportunity for the PSNZ to honour long-term members. Jack Sinclair, Foundation Professor of Physiology at the University of Auckland and co-founder of the PSNZ turned 80 during the year and was a guest and active participant at MEDSCINZ 2007. John Leader who retired from Physiology in Otago and is going on to a second career as a winemaker in Marlborough was made a Life member of the Society.

The conference dinner held at Gibbston Valley Winery was a great event. The contributions of student members of the Society to the meeting was recognised and the very special role that conference organiser, Linda Booth, has played in all three MedSci Congresses was acknowledged.