Roddy Large
Dundalk Institute of Technology, Ireland

https://doi.org/10.36866/pn.94.16a

11–13 December 2013
Dublin Convention Centre, Republic of Ireland

As the festive season got underway in Dublin, a group of physiologists descended on what would be a very enjoyable and informative few days. From 11 to 13 December, The Dublin Convention Centre was the venue for The Society’s Epithelia and Smooth Muscle, Interactions in Health and Disease Joint Themed Meeting.

Preceding the meeting was an early career physiologists’ symposium, held in the magnificent Royal College of Surgeons on Dublin’s St Stephen’s Green. This meeting was well attended, with around 50 young physiologists presenting some fascinating work on ion channel transport and its role in health and disease. Invited speakers, Olivier Soriani, Michael Gray and Thomas Jentsch, had the audience enthralled with talks covering cancer cell electrical activity, CFTR bicarbonate secretion and the roles of both Cl- and K+ in sensory functions. The standard of presentations was extremely high with James Reihill (Queens University Belfast) and Karen Hannigan (Dundalk Institute of Technology) sharing the oral communication prize sponsored by Andor Technology.

The meeting, organized by Brian Harvey (Royal College of Surgeons Ireland) and Noel McHale (Dundalk Institute of Technology), aimed to bring together those working in epithelia and membrane transport, and those focused on smooth muscle physiology. Over the three days we were treated to 14 superb oral communications and 41 poster presentations covering a wide range of topics. We heard the current research in bile acid regulation of epithelial cells, epithelial function in the GI tract, airway, smooth muscle and epithelial physiology, the roles of cation currents in a variety of tissue types and a lot more.

Again, as at the early career symposium, the standard of data on show was extremely high and congratulations must go to Siobhan Hendrick (Royal College of Surgeons Ireland) for Best Oral Communication and Arvind Kshatri (Dundalk Institute of Technology) for Best Poster Presentation.

Plenary Speakers for the meeting were Kim Barret (University of California San Diego) and Kent Sanders (University of Nevada). Kim gave us an insight into ‘Epithelial function and dysfunction in the GI tract’. Kent’s presentation was, for me, the highlight of the conference. Entitled ‘Epithelial–smooth muscle interactions in the regulation of gastrointestinal motility’, it was both entertaining and insightful. We were introduced to the concept of a tri-modal interaction between smooth muscle cells, ICC and PDGFRα+ cells, and the role these cellular interactions play in the regulation of GI motility.

I suppose I can’t sign off my report without some mention of the Society dinner. I think I’m safe in saying that a great night was had by all. Dinner was held in the Old Jameson Distillery, where, upon arrival, delegates were treated to a tour of the distillery before being invited to try a glass (or three) of Jameson Irish Whiskey. A delicious dinner was followed by a night of entertainment. Delegates joined in a singsong of some classic Irish songs and traditional Irish dancing. For some the night ended here and for others it was only just the beginning.

In conclusion, the organizers should take a lot of credit for what was a really enjoyable meeting and I’m sure that it was a huge success in terms of their aims of stimulating and generating new research ideas and collaborations.