HSAN1 Symposium

Report on HSAN1 Symposium
Submitted by: Ellen Burns, Medical Liaison

It was Wednesday, April 23, 2008, and unusually warm for Boston, with spring trees and flowers bursting into bloom. A group of scientists gathered at the Royal Sonesta Hotel for dinner the night before the first HSAN1 Symposium. Many knew one another’s work. Some had met at other conferences. Still others had communicated by e-mail. This night they met to match the person with the work. This is much the same goal as the Deater Foundation has in meeting doctors and scientists and attending conferences. We want the specialists who are working with cells and test tubes and sophisticated analysis instruments to remember the people behind the disease.

Eric Newcomer and Cindy, Larry Deater and Rory, and Ellen Deater Burns were also at the dinner, which buzzed with excitement about sphingolipids and cellular biology. Donna Crowe, with the Day Laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) arranged a wonderful meal for the gathering, and she and Diane McKenna-Yasek, the Neuromuscular Research Coordinator, joined us and the many researchers there. Dr. Robert H. Brown, Jr. served as host, as he and Dr. Florian Eichler had invited the participants there. People were so interested in sharing ideas, the hotel staff had to move the tables out from under us to get the group to leave the room!

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