Second World Congress on Water Channel Proteins (Aquaporins and Relatives)
Cluj-Napoca, Romania, May 20-24, 2015

Dear Colleague,
The purpose of this letter is to formally announce you the following event:

Second World Congress on Water Channel Proteins (Aquaporins and Relatives) Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Discovery of the First Water Channel Protein (Later Called Aquaporin1) Cluj-Napoca, Romania, May 20-24, 2015

The first water channel protein (WCP) was discovered in the 1980s during studies of the human red blood cell membrane. In the 1990s it became obvious that WCPs constitute a large family of membrane proteins that are present in all kingdoms of life: plants, microorganisms (archaea, bacteria, yeast, and protozoa), and animals including humans. In the past 30 years WCPs have become a “hot” area of research in biochemistry and molecular cell biology, with wide and increasing implications for human health.

In 2011 The First World Congress on Water Channel Proteins (Aquaporins and Relatives) celebrating the 25th anniversary of the discovery of the first water channel protein (later called Aquaporin 1) was held in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, October 27-29, 2011. It was attended by hundreds of scientists and students, and was unanimously appreciated as a great success.

Since the progress of knowledge in this new field is taking place at such a fast rate, we invite all scholars working in the field, or those interested in the general topic of WCPs, to become valued participants in the Second World Congress dedicated to all scientific aspects of WCPs, that will take place in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, May 20-24, 2015.

INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD AND CONFIRMED PLENARY LECTURERS (Alphabetically ordered):

François Chaumont (Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium) Vasile Morariu (Cluj-Napoca, Romania)
Hefeng Huang (Hangzhou, P.R. China) Tsutomu Nakada (Niigata, Japan)
Philip Kuchel (Sydney, Australia) Richard Neutze (Gothenburg, Sweden)
Umberto Laforenza (Pavia, Italy) Peter Pohl (Linz, Austria)
Hubert Löwenheim (Tübingen, Germany) Sei Sasaki (Tokyo, Japan)
Tonghui Ma (Dalian, P.R. China) Emad Tajkhorshid (Urbana-Champaign, USA)
Andreas F. Mack (Tübingen, Germany) Andrea Yool (Adelaide, Australia)
Toshiyuki Matsuzaki (Gunma, Japan)

The Second World Congress is organized under the Auspices of: IFCC, WASPaLM, Romanian Academy, Academy of Medical Sciences of Romania, Academy of Romanian Scientists, “Gheorghe Ionescu-Siseşti” Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences

The Second World Congress is organized by:
The GHEORGHE BENGA FOUNDATION

In collaboration with: MAIN PARTNERS (in alphabetical order): “Babeş-Bolyai” University Cluj-Napoca, “Gheorghe Dima” Music Academy Cluj-Napoca, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, “Vasile Goldiş” Western University Arad, “Victor Babeş” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timişoara.

OTHER PARTNERS (in alphabetical order):

Academy of Romania – Cluj Branch Casa Cărţii de Ştiinţă, Cluj-Napoca
Academy of Romanian Scientists – Cluj Branch “Lucian Blaga” University Library Cluj-Napoca
Academy of Medical Sciences – Cluj Branch Romanian Academy – Cluj Branch
Balkan Clinical Laboratory Federation Romanian Society of Laboratory Medicine
Cluj County Clinical Emergency Hospital

SECRETARIAT AND MANAGEMENT OF SERVICES:
Wens Tour: Phone: +4 0264 590 749; Fax: +4 0264 595 755; E-mail: aquaporin@wens.ro;


CALL FOR PAPERS

Participants wishing to contribute to the Scientific Program with Lectures, Oral Communications, Short Communications or Posters are kindly requested to submit their ABSTRACTS, together with the REGISTRATION FORM of at least one author.
Abstracts should be submitted by E-mail to: aquaporin@wens.ro.
The authors should indicate the preferred form of presentation. The scheduled time is: Lecture (25 min presentation, 5 min discussion), Oral Communication (12 min presentation, 3 min discussion), Short Communication (8 min presentation, 2 min discussion).
For Lectures the dead-line of Abstract submission is March 15, 2015.
The decision regarding the form of presentation will be taken by the Abstract Committee and will be communicated to authors by April 15, 2015 (at the latest).

DATES TO REMEMBER

May 20-24, 2015: Meeting dates
November 30, 2014: dead-line for payment of “Early Bird” (Reduced) Registration Fee
April 15, 2015: dead-line for for payment of Regular Registration Fee
Late payment: after April 15, 2015
April 1, 2015: dead-line for Abstract submission for Lectures, Oral and Short Communications
April 15: dead-line for Abstract submission for Posters

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://gheorghebenga.ro/wordpress/

Looking forward to hearing from you,
With kindest regards and the very best wishes,
Yours sincerely,

PRESIDENT OF THE WORLD CONGRESS:
GHEORGHE BENGA
Member, Romanian Academy, Academy of Medical Sciences of Romania,
President, Cluj Branch of the Romanian Committee for the History and
Philosophy of Science of the Romanian Academy
President, The GHEORGHE BENGA FOUNDATION
President, The OUTNOBEL FOUNDATION
Professor, “Vasile Goldiş” Western University of Arad, Romania
Honorary Associate, University of Sydney, Australia E-mail: gbgbenga@gmail.com

Additional information available on gheorghebenga.ro/wordpress