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Second International MELODI Workshop October 18-20, 2010

Paris, France First Announcement

This workshop will be the next major opportunity to:

• participate in the MELODI Low Dose Research Platform,
• contribute to the development of its Strategic Research Agenda (SRA),
• discuss new multidisciplinary research projects aiming to implement the SRA

Since the first MELODI workshop organised in Stuttgart in 2009 and sponsored by BfS, the European Low Dose Risk research strategy has made significant progress:

A new Network of Excellence, called DoReMi, has been set up between 12 partners for a duration of six years. Its launch meeting took place in Barcelona in January 2010. With a total budget of over 13 M€ (EC contribution), it is responsible for paving the way to European integration of R&T programmes in the field of low dose risks, for the development of the first steps of a Strategic Research Agenda (Called Transition Research Agenda) aimed at developing multidisciplinarity between radiobiology, dosimetry and epidemiology. Information will soon be available on www.doremi-noe.net.

The MELODI platform is currently being constituted in a fully open associative entity, open to all funding bodies and research organisations able and interested to contribute to the achievement of its goals. Applications to formal membership will be possible as soon as the statutes of the association are approved, in principle before summer 2010. The main goal of MELODI will be to develop and maintain a Strategic Research Agenda in the field of low dose radiation research and to actively promote and foster its implementation. This will be achieved by the MELODI membership and through cooperation with EU and Member States institutions, with WHO and IAEA at the international level and with interested R&T organisations in other regions of the world. Among the next steps is the constitution of a wide ranging Scientific Committee which will guide the development of the SRA and contribute to the independant scientific evaluation of research projects for the benefits of the MELODI platform member organisations.

The Paris MELODI Workshop will take place in the premises of Paris University, Boulevard Jourdan, from October 18 to 20. The agenda will comprise different types of sessions:

An opening session will inform the participants about the recent developments of the MELODI platform. The first General Assembly of the MELODI association will also take place, with the election of the Board and a presentation of the progress made in the development of the association and the achievement of its goals (governing rules, scientific advisory committee, first steps of operational integration of existing national programmes, MELODI website, …).

Plenary sessions will provide the attendants with keynote lectures by senior world level scientists addressing key questions, such as the system biology approaches, the toxicology of the 21^st century or the challenges posed by the use of ionizing radiation for medical applications;

Parallel plenary sessions will invite the participants to discuss about recent developments of researches in topics such as non-cancer effects, individual radiation sensitivity as well as radiation quality;

Parallel working group sessions will offer the opportunity for scientists to work on more specific issues such as stem cells, biomarkers of sensitivity to cancer, bystander effects, cognitive effects, medical uses of ionizing radiation in conventional and interventional radiology and toxicological effects resulting from an internal exposure;

In a plenary reporting session the main outcomes of the working group sessions will be presented and discussed;

A second plenary session will give the chance for encouraging exchanges among scientists and their potential partners (industry, end-users, funding organisations), for informal discussions between participants aimed at visions for future research ventures needed to progress down the path of the Strategic Research Agenda.

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A full Workshop programme will be posted as soon as finalized, together with the practical arrangements for registration and participation. No fees will be charged for participation in the workshop, which is jointly organized and sponsored by IRSN and CEA on behalf of MELODI.

In the case of questions, please contact the following email address:

melodi.iw2010@gmail.com