Meeting report: the 66th annual meeting of the Japanese Radiation Research Society in Tokyo, Japan, 6-8 November 2023.

The 66th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Radiation Research Society took place in Tokyo, Japan, from 6 to 8 November 2023. The meeting covered a wide range of radiation research topics, including basic mechanisms involved in radiation effects, translational research, and epidemiology. Some sessions were jointly organized with the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). Here, we report on some plenary and keynote talks presented at the meeting.

Asociación de las características del ensayo con la publicación simultánea y su impacto en citas y menciones: un estudio transversal / Association of trial characteristics with simultaneous publication and its impact on citations and mentions: a cross-sectional study

Introducción y objetivos: Los ensayos clínicos aleatorizados a menudo se presentan en conferencias médicas y se publican al mismo tiempo o después. Los predictores de publicación simultánea y sus consecuencias no están determinados. Nuestro objetivo es caracterizar la práctica de la publicación simultánea, identificar sus predictores y evaluar su impacto. Métodos: En este estudio transversal se incluyeron ensayos clínicos aleatorizados presentados en sesiones de ciencia de última hora de importantes conferencias cardiovasculares desde 2015 hasta 2021. Se analizó la asociación entre las características del ensayo y el momento de la publicación. Se investigó el impacto de la publicación simultánea frente a la no simultánea en el número de citas a 1 año y menciones a 1 mes, así como en el total de citas y menciones en el seguimiento más largo observado. Resultados: De los 478 ensayos incluidos en el análisis, el 48,7% se publicó simultáneamente. Las publicaciones simultáneas tenían mayor probabilidad de presentarse en la sala principal de la conferencia (OR=6,09; IC95%, 1,34-36,92; p=0,029) y se caracterizaban por un tiempo de revisión más corto (OR=0,95; IC95%, 0,91-0,96; p<0,001). Las publicaciones simultáneas se asociaron con un mayor número de citas a 1 año (R2=43,81; IC95%, 23,89-63,73; p<0,001), menciones a 1 mes (R2=132,32; IC95%, 85,42-179,22; p<0,001) y total de citas (R2=222,89; IC95%, 127,98-317,80; p<0,001) en el seguimiento. Conclusiones: Los ensayos clínicos aleatorizados presentados en la sala principal de la conferencia y con un tiempo de revisión más corto tienen mayor probabilidad de publicarse simultáneamente. Las publicaciones simultáneas se asocian con más citas y menciones que las publicaciones no simultáneas. (AU)

Introduction and objectives: Randomized trials are often presented at medical conferences and published simultaneously or later. Predictors of simultaneous publication and its consequences are undetermined. Our aim was to characterize the practice of simultaneous publication, identify its predictors, and evaluate its impact. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we included randomized trials presented at late-breaking science sessions of major cardiovascular conferences from 2015 to 2021. The association of trial characteristics with the timing of publication was analyzed. The impact of simultaneous vs nonsimultaneous publication was investigated on the number of 1-year citations and 1-month mentions, and the total citations and mentions at the longest observation follow-up. Results: Of 478 trials included in the analysis, 48.7% were published simultaneously. Simultaneous publications were more likely to be presented in the main conference room (OR, 6.09; 95%CI, 1.34-36.92; P=.029) and were characterized by a shorter review time (OR, 0.95; 95%CI, 0.91-0.96; P<.001). Simultaneous publications were associated with higher 1-year citations (R2, 43.81; 95%CI, 23.89-63.73; P<.001), 1-month mentions (R2, 132.32; 95%CI, 85.42-179.22; P<.001) and total citations (R2, 222.89; 95%CI, 127.98-317.80; P<.001). Conclusions: Randomized trials presented in the main conference room and with shorter review time were more likely to be published simultaneously. Simultaneous publications were associated with more citations and mentions than nonsimultaneous publications. (AU)

The 14th International Podocyte Conference 2023: from podocyte biology to glomerular medicine.

The 14th International Podocyte Conference took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA from May 23 to 26, 2023. It commenced with an early-career researchers' meeting on May 23, providing young scientists with a platform to present and discuss their research findings. Throughout the main conference, 29 speakers across 9 sessions shared their insights on podocyte biology, glomerular medicine, novel technologic advancements, and translational approaches. Additionally, the event featured 3 keynote lectures addressing engineered chimeric antigen receptor T cell- and mRNA-based therapies and the use of biobanks for enhanced disease comprehension. Furthermore, 4 brief oral abstract sessions allowed scientists to present their findings to a broad audience. The program also included a panel discussion addressing the challenges of conducting human research within the American Black community. Remarkably, after a 5-year hiatus from in-person conferences, the 14th International Podocyte Conference successfully convened scientists from around the globe, fostering the presentation and discussion of crucial research findings, as summarized in this review. Furthermore, to ensure continuous and sustainable education, research, translation, and trial medicine related to podocyte and glomerular diseases for the benefit of patients, the International Society of Glomerular Disease was officially launched during the conference.

Symposium summary: epigenetic inheritance-impact for biology and society 23-25 August 2023, Zürich, Switzerland.

The possibility that acquired traits can be transmitted across generations has been the subject of intense research in the past decades. This biological process is of major interest to many scientists and has profound implications for biology and society but has complex mechanisms and is therefore challenging to study. Because it involves factors independent from the DNA sequence, this form of heredity is classically referred to as epigenetic inheritance. Many studies have examined how life experiences and various environmental factors can cause phenotypes that are heritable and be manifested in subsequent generations. Recognizing the major importance and complexity of this research, the fourth edition of the Epigenetic Inheritance Symposium Zürich brought together experts from diverse disciplines to address current questions in the field of epigenetic inheritance and present recent findings. The symposium had sessions dedicated to epidemiological evidence and animal models, transmission mechanisms, methodologies and the far-reaching impact on society and evolution. This report summarizes the talks of speakers and describes additional activities offered during the symposium including poster sessions and an art competition on the topic of epigenetic inheritance.

WSV2023 - The second meeting of the world society for virology: One health - One world - One virology.

The Second International Conference of the World Society for Virology (WSV), hosted by Riga Stradins University, was held in Riga, Latvia, on June 15-17th, 2023. It prominently highlighted the recent advancements in different disciplines of virology. The conference had fourteen keynote speakers covering diverse topics, including emerging virus pseudotypes, Zika virus vaccine development, herpesvirus capsid mobility, parvovirus invasion strategies, influenza in animals and birds, West Nile virus and Marburg virus ecology, as well as the latest update in animal vaccines. Discussions further explored SARS-CoV-2 RNA replicons as vaccine candidates, SARS-CoV-2 in humans and animals, and the significance of plant viruses in the 'One Health' paradigm. The presence of the presidents from three virology societies, namely the American, Indian, and Korean Societies for Virology, highlighted the event's significance. Additionally, past president of the American Society for Virology (ASV), formally declared the partnership between ASV and WSV during the conference.

"Bioelectricity in Development, Regeneration, and Cancers" Cell Bio 2023: A Joint Meeting of the American Society of Cell Biology and European Molecular Biology Organization December 2-6, 2023, in Boston, MA, USA.

Cell Bio conferences-organized jointly by the American Society of Cell Biology (ASCB) and European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)-showcase a diverse global community of the brightest researchers in Cell Biology and in emerging interdisciplinary topics, including bioelectricity. In this report, we briefly overview the Cell Bio 2023 subgroup meeting "Bioelectricity in Development, Regeneration, and Cancers." This subgroup meeting featured 12 talks (7 Principal Investigators and 5 junior scientists) exploring the role of bioelectricity in endogenous and diseased states in model systems ranging from cells in culture to single-cell organisms such as yeast all the way to mammalian systems (including tools and technology developed for exploring bioelectricity and electrotaxis in cells and tissues). The subgroup meeting concluded with a discussion on the current challenges and opportunities for the field of bioelectricity.

First International Conference on Unconventional Animal Models of Alzheimer's Disease and Aging.

The first International Conference on Unconventional Animal Models of Alzheimer's Disease and Aging (UAMAA) took place on December 13-16, 2023, in Santiago, Chile. The Alzheimer's disease (AD) research field is currently in search for new and unconventional models that could hold greater translational potential than transgenic mouse models. Thus this UAMAA conference is timely and significant. The event consisted of 6 sessions with talks from 28 world-class scientists from all over the world. These animal models of interest include the degu (Octodon degu), the dog (Canis familiaris), and certain species of nonhuman primates that may better recapitulate neuropathology and cognitive impairments in human AD. Our conference has provided a formal forum to discuss and highlight new research directions, alternative animal models, and innovative approaches for the AD and aging research field.

19th International Xenopus Conference Meeting Report: Latest developments and future perspectives.

The African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis, and the Western clawed frog, Xenopus tropicalis, have been foundational model organisms for establishing key principles of embryonic development. Today, the utility of Xenopus has been greatly expanded for studying a wide range of biological processes both in health and disease. Here, we describe the latest advancements from the Xenopus community, which span the molecular, cellular, tissue, and organismal scales.

Association of trial characteristics with simultaneous publication and its impact on citations and mentions: a cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Randomized trials are often presented at medical conferences and published simultaneously or later. Predictors of simultaneous publication and its consequences are undetermined. Our aim was to characterize the practice of simultaneous publication, identify its predictors, and evaluate its impact. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, we included randomized trials presented at late-breaking science sessions of major cardiovascular conferences from 2015 to 2021. The association of trial characteristics with the timing of publication was analyzed. The impact of simultaneous vs nonsimultaneous publication was investigated on the number of 1-year citations and 1-month mentions, and the total citations and mentions at the longest observation follow-up. RESULTS: Of 478 trials included in the analysis, 48.7% were published simultaneously. Simultaneous publications were more likely to be presented in the main conference room (OR, 6.09; 95%CI, 1.34-36.92; P=.029) and were characterized by a shorter review time (OR, 0.95; 95%CI, 0.91-0.96; P<.001). Simultaneous publications were associated with higher 1-year citations (R2, 43.81; 95%CI, 23.89-63.73; P<.001), 1-month mentions (R2, 132.32; 95%CI, 85.42-179.22; P<.001) and total citations (R2, 222.89; 95%CI, 127.98-317.80; P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: Randomized trials presented in the main conference room and with shorter review time were more likely to be published simultaneously. Simultaneous publications were associated with more citations and mentions than nonsimultaneous publications.

Research for Health Care and Policy on HIV/AIDS: proceedings of the third edition of the Cameroon HIV Research (CAM-HERO) 2022, Kribi, Cameroon, from 1st to 3rd December 2022.

Cameroon is committed to reaching HIV epidemic control through coordinated efforts by the Ministry of Public Health, the National AIDS Control Committee, bilateral/multilateral institutions and implementing partners. The third edition of the Cameroon HIV Research Forum (CAM-HERO) was held in Kribi from December 1st to 3rd, 2022, with the theme "Research for Health Care and Policy on HIV/AIDS." The conference brought together local and international scientists and clinicians, policymakers, and regulatory authorities to 1) disseminate HIV research findings and HIV policy; 2) foster operational research collaboration; 3) build research capacity through training on basics of research methods and CAM-HERO young investigator Awards; and 4) initiate a guideline for promoting HIV/AIDS research in Cameroon. The main activities included training on research methodology and basic principles in bioethics, presentations of selected abstracts, and awards for top research. A total of 35 abstracts (16 oral presentations, 16 posters, and 3 late-breaker-abstracts) were selected for presentation following a rigorous review. The conference ended with evidence-based recommendations and a way-forward statement for the development of a National Guide for HIV/AIDS research in Cameroon, with the aim of improving the quality and quantity of research agenda and projects nationwide.

Association for Human Pharmacology in the Pharmaceutical Industry conference 2022: impending change, innovations and future challenges.

The Association for Human Pharmacology in the Pharmaceutical Industry's annual meeting focused on current and impending challenges facing the United Kingdom's (UK) pharmaceutical industry and how these opportunities can inspire innovation and best practice. The UK pharmaceutical landscape is still evolving following Brexit and learnings from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. As such, the UK's clinical community is in a unique position to steer innovation in a meaningful direction. With the continuation of remote forms of working, further opportunities have arisen to support novel practices away from the clinic. The keynote speaker reflected on clinical development over the past 40 years and how the industry must continue to concentrate on patient welfare. The future of drug development was discussed regarding challenges associated with developing translational gene therapies, and the status of investment markets analyzed from a business strategy and consulting perspective. The patient viewpoint was a core theme throughout the conference with patient-centric blood sampling and decentralized clinical trials providing suggestions for how the industry can save costs and increase efficiency. Moreover, the patient perspective was central to a debate over whether ethics requirements should be the same for oncology patients taking part in first-in-human studies as those for healthy subjects. Discussions continued around the changing roles of the Qualified Person and Principal Investigators which underpins how sponsors may want to run future trials in the UK. Lessons learned from conducting challenge trials in healthy volunteers and patients were discussed following a presentation from the serving Chair of the COVID-19 challenge ethics committee. The current state of interactions with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency were also explored. It was considered how the immediate future for the UK clinical trials community is inevitably still linked with Europe; the newly implemented European Medicines Agency Clinical Trials Information System has been met with lukewarm responses, providing a promising opportunity to ensure UK Phase I units continue to play a vital role in global research.

An update on one-dose HPV vaccine studies, immunobridging and humoral immune responses - A meeting report.

The 12th HPV Prevention and Control meeting was held on June 2-3, 2022, in Antwerp, Belgium. This technical meeting focused on several topics. This report summarises the discussions and lessons learned on two topics: an update on one-dose HPV vaccination studies and humoral immune responses upon HPV vaccination. Long-term follow-up studies from Costa Rica (eleven years) and India (ten years) report stable levels of antibodies after a single HPV vaccination. High vaccine effectiveness against incident persistent HPV 16/18 infection was seen in India (95.4%, 85.0-99.9) ten years postvaccination and in Kenya (97.5%, 81.7-99.7) eighteen months postvaccination, an important observation in a setting with a higher HPV prevalence. The potential impact of HPV vaccination using a one-dose schedule in India was modelled and showed that implementation of one-dose schedule can contribute towards achieving WHO Cervical Cancer elimination goals. These data support the WHO SAGE recommendations for adopting a one-dose schedule for females aged 9-20 years. Immunobridging studies were discussed during the meeting. General agreement was reached that when thoughtfully applied, they can support and accelerate the expanded use of HPV vaccine with new vaccine schedules, age cohorts, or vaccine formulations. Internationally standardised measurements of HPV immune responses important for the progress of HPV vaccinology field. Humoral immune responses upon HPV vaccination plateau at 24 months regardless of number of doses, therefore, data should be analysed after at least 24 months of follow-up to bridge studies accurately.

The joy of the 11th International Fission Yeast Meeting in Hiroshima (POMBE2023 Hiroshima) after a long wait due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 11th International Fission Yeast Meeting took place at Astel Plaza in Hiroshima, Japan, from May 28th to June 2nd, 2023. This highly anticipated gathering, originally scheduled for May 2021, had been postponed for 2 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers from 21 countries, including 211 overseas and 157 domestic participants (overall gender ratio is roughly 60% male vs. 40% female), eagerly awaited the opportunity to meet in person, as virtual interactions had been the only means of communication during this challenging period. The meeting featured four kick-off special lectures, 101 regular talks, and 152 poster presentations. Additionally, a discussion session on upfront frontier research in fission yeast provided an interactive platform for both speakers and attendees. Throughout the event, participants shared cutting-edge knowledge, celebrated significant research findings, and relished the invaluable experience of an in-person meeting. The vibrant and friendly atmosphere, characteristic of this esteemed international conference, fostered collaboration and reinforced the significance of studying this exceptional model organism. Undoubtedly, the outcomes of this meeting will greatly contribute to our understanding of complex biological systems, not only in fission yeast but also in general eukaryotes.

Reverse Engineering of Digital Measures: Inviting Patients to the Conversation.

Background: Digital measures offer an unparalleled opportunity to create a more holistic picture of how people who are patients behave in their real-world environments, thereby establishing a better connection between patients, caregivers, and the clinical evidence used to drive drug development and disease management. Reaching this vision will require achieving a new level of co-creation between the stakeholders who design, develop, use, and make decisions using evidence from digital measures. Summary: In September 2022, the second in a series of meetings hosted by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich, the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health Biomarkers Consortium, and sponsored by Wellcome Trust, entitled "Reverse Engineering of Digital Measures," was held in Zurich, Switzerland, with a broad range of stakeholders sharing their experience across four case studies to examine how patient centricity is essential in shaping development and validation of digital evidence generation tools. Key Messages: In this paper, we discuss progress and the remaining barriers to widespread use of digital measures for evidence generation in clinical development and care delivery. We also present key discussion points and takeaways in order to continue discourse and provide a basis for dissemination and outreach to the wider community and other stakeholders. The work presented here shows us a blueprint for how and why the patient voice can be thoughtfully integrated into digital measure development and that continued multistakeholder engagement is critical for further progress.

Focus on the 9th Annual Seminar organized by the Canceropôle Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur: Highlights of the event.

The 9th Annual Seminar of the Canceropôle Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur took place on July, 5th-6th 2022 in Saint-Raphaël, south of France. Annual meeting of the regional scientific community working in the field of cancer research, this seminar brings together a large and diverse audience, with 285 people attending in 2022: PhD students, postdocs, PIs (Principal Investigators) and senior researchers, clinicians, patient associations, funding partners of the Canceropôle. This document reviews the major scientific results presented and key moments of the event.

Stakeholders' perspectives on transplant metrics: the 2022 Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients' consensus conference.

In July 2022, the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) hosted an innovative, multistakeholder consensus conference to identify information and metrics desired by stakeholders in the transplantation system, including patients, living donors, caregivers, deceased donor family members, transplant professionals, organ procurement organization professionals, payers, and regulators. Crucially, patients, caregivers, living donors, and deceased donor family members were included in all aspects of this conference, including serving on the planning committee, participating in preconference focus groups and learning sessions, speaking at the conference, moderating conference sessions and breakout groups, and shaping the conclusions. Patients constituted 24% of the meeting participants. In this report, we document the proceedings and enumerate 160 recommendations, 10 of which have been highly prioritized. SRTR will use the recommendations to develop new presentations of information and metrics requested by stakeholders to support informed decision-making.

Meeting report: The Third Franco-Japanese Developmental Biology Meeting.

The Third Franco-Japanese Developmental Biology Meeting has been held to reinforce the partnership and facilitate the international collaborations and the academic exchanges between the French Society of Developmental Biology (SFBD) and the Japanese Society of Developmental Biology (JSDB). Nearly 200 participants attended, and we actively discussed interdisciplinary knowledge throughout the meeting period. The meeting realized not only the tightest connection between these two communities ever, but also a great contribution to international interdisciplinary academic communications and scientific communications with the public. In order to celebrate and maintain this massive momentum to push forward the entire field of developmental biology, we share the atmosphere with the entire international community and next generations through this report.