Preface:
Volume 101 in the series World Reviews of Nutrition and Dietetics consists of selected papers presented at the Third Congress of the International Society of Nutrigenetics/ Nutrigenomics (ISNN). The congress was held at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) campus in Bethesda (Md., USA) on October 21–23, 2009. The congress was truly international, with speakers and participants from 14 countries of North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. The congress was co-chaired by Dr. John Milner of the National Cancer Institute, NIH, and Dr. Artemis P. Simopoulos, President of the ISNN. The congress’s focus was that ‘research and its translation into medical practice and dietary recommendations must be based on a solid foundation of knowledge derived from studies on nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics’.
The congress consisted of 7 sessions. In keeping with the theme of the congress, sessions I and II addressed ‘Frontiers in Nutrigenetics’, session III focused on ‘Frontiers in Epigenetics’, session IV addressed the ‘Impact of Transcriptomics on Nutrigenomics’, session V centered on ‘Non-coding RNAs and Post-translational Gene Regulation’, session VI was called ‘Moving Beyond Genomics’, and session VII was titled on ‘Frontiers in Nutrigenetics/ Nutrigenomics. Building Partnerships: the Challenges and Opportunities Facing Governments, International Organizations, Academia and Industry’. Dr. Simopoulos and Dr. Milner opened the congress and welcomed everyone. The keynote address was given by Dr. Raffaele De Caterina, Vice-President of the ISNN who spoke on ‘Opportunities and Challenges in Nutrigenetics/Nutrigenomics and Health.’ Dr. De Caterina emphasized that, like drugs, nutrients have the ability to interact and modulate molecular mechanisms underlying an organism’s physiological functions. Awareness of the different effects of nutrients according to our genetic constitution (nutrigenetics) and how nutrients may affect gene expression (nutrigenomics) is prompting a revolution in the field of nutrition.
