18th International Conference of FFC

Functional and Medical Foods for Chronic Diseases: Bioactive Compounds and Biomarkers

September 15-16, 2015, at the Joseph B. Martin Conference Center at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

Functional Food Center is pleased to announce its 18th International Conference "Functional and Medical Foods for Chronic Diseases: Bioactive Compounds and Biomarkers". The conference will be held at Joseph B. Martin Conference Center at Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA on September 15-16, 2015. This conference will bring together experts in medicine, biology, and the food industry to discuss the functional foods with bioactive compounds as dietary interventions for chronic diseases.

Main Conference Topics/Sessions

Session: Functional Foods and Obesity

• Epidemiology of obesity
• The modern mechanisms of obesity; energy metabolism and obesity; neurobiological mechanisms of obesity; microbiological mechanisms of obesity; pathophysiologic mechanisms of obesity
• Biomarkers of obesity
• The effects of functional food and bioactive compounds on biomarkers of obesity

Session: Functional Foods and Diabetes

• Epidemiology of diabetes
• The modern mechanisms of diabetes
• Biomarkers of diabetes
• The effects of functional food and bioactive compounds on biomarkers of diabetes

Session: Functional Foods and Neurological Diseases

• Epidemiology of mental and neurological diseases
• Mechanisms of neurological diseases
• Biomarkers of different mental and neurological diseases
• The effects of functional food and bioactive compounds on biomarkers of neurological diseases
• Functional foods for mental and neurological diseases 

Session: Functional Foods and Cardiovascular diseases (CVD)

• Epidemiology of CVD
• Biomarkers of different cardiovascular diseases
• The effects of functional food and bioactive compounds on biomarkers of cardiovascular diseases

Session: Functional Foods and Cancer

• Epidemiology of Cancer
• Biomarkers of different types of cancer
• The effects of functional food and bioactive compounds on biomarkers of different types of cancer
  

Session: Functional Foods/Nutraceuticals and Cancer. Session Chair: Jin-Rong Zhou, PhD, Associate Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Director, Nutrition/Metabolism Laboratory, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA.

Session: Bioactive Polysaccharides: Structures and Functional Properties. Session Chair: Steve Cui, PhD, Guelph Food Research Centre, Ontario, Canada

Session: Functional foods and other non-communicable diseases

Session: Medical foods with bioactive compound(s) for the management and prevention of non-     communicable diseases.

• Medical food for diabetes
• Medical foods for neurological diseases
• Medical foods for CVD
• The effects of medical food on biomarkers of non-communicable diseases

Session: Safety of the Bioactive Compounds and Functional Foods

• Safety of the bioactive compounds at efficacious levels
• Safety of the functional foods at efficacious levels
• Regulatory issues and health claims

Session: Research and development of new functional food products for non-communicable diseases

	Early Bird Registration ($)	Standard Rate ($)
Full-Time Students*	295	345
USDA, NIH, FDA	395	495
Academic	495	645
Commercial	645	795
Exhibitor/Vendor	995	1295
Abstract Publication Fee	49	49

Conference Organizing Committee

Co-chairman: Francine Welty, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Board-Certified Cardiologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA

Co-chairman: Garth L. Nicolson, PhD, Professor, President, Chief Scientific Officer and Research Professor of Molecular Pathology, The Institute for Molecular Medicine, S. Laguna Beach, CA, USA  (Garth Nicolson is the world's leading authority on cellular medicine, and author of more than 600 medical and scientific publications)

Co-chairman: Danik M. Martirosyan, PhD, Founder, Academic Society for Functional Foods and Bioactive Compounds, President, Functional Food Center/Functional Food Institute, Dallas, TX, USA

Jin-Rong Zhou, PhD, Associate Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Director, Nutrition/Metabolism Laboratory, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA

Antonia Ceccarelli, MD, PhD in Neurology, Harvard Medical School and Assistant Scientist at BWH, Boston, MA, USA

Nilanjana Maulik, Ph.D, Professor, Department of Surgery, University of Connecticut Medical Center, Farmington, CT, USA

Steve Cui, PhD, Guelph Food Research Centre, Ontario, Canada

Jing X. Kang, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Laboratory for Lipid Medicine and Technology at Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States

Flavia Nery, PhD, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

Andrew Scholey, PhD, Prpfessor, Director of the Centre for Human Psychopharmacology  at Swinburne University, Melbourne, Austraia

Julius E. Oben, PhD. Professor, Laboratory of Nutrition and Nutritional Biochemistry, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Yaounde 1, PO Box 812 Yaounde, Cameroon.

Main Conference Sessions/Topics

Session: Functional Foods and Obesity

• Epidemiology of obesity
• The modern mechanisms of obesity; energy metabolism and obesity; neurobiological mechanisms of obesity; microbiological mechanisms of obesity; pathophysiologic mechanisms of obesity
• Biomarkers of obesity
• The effects of functional food and bioactive compounds on biomarkers of obesity

Session: Functional Foods and Diabetes

• Epidemiology of diabetes
• The modern mechanisms of diabetes
• Biomarkers of diabetes
• The effects of functional food and bioactive compounds on biomarkers of diabetes

Session: Functional Foods and Neurological Diseases

• Epidemiology of mental and neurological diseases
• Mechanisms of neurological diseases
• Biomarkers of different mental and neurological diseases
• The effects of functional food and bioactive compounds on biomarkers of neurological diseases
• Functional foods for mental and neurological diseases

Session: Functional Foods and Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD). Session Chair: Nilanjana Maulik PhD, Professor and Director, Department of Surgery, Molecular Cardiology and Angiogenesis Laboratory, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut, USA

• Epidemiology of CVD
• Biomarkers of different cardiovascular diseases
• The effects of functional food and bioactive compounds on biomarkers of cardiovascular diseases

Session: Functional Foods and Cancer. Session Chair: Garth L. Nicolson, PhD, Professor, President, Chief Scientific Officer and Research Professor of Molecular Pathology, The Institute for Molecular Medicine, S. Laguna Beach, CA, USA

• Epidemiology of Cancer
• Biomarkers of different types of cancer
• The effects of functional food and bioactive compounds on biomarkers of different types of cancer

Session: Functional Foods/Nutraceuticals and Cancer. Session Chair: Jin-Rong Zhou, PhD, Associate Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Director, Nutrition/Metabolism Laboratory, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA

Session: Functional Foods/Nutrition and Metabolic disorders: Session Chair: Francine Welty, MD, PhD, Board-Certified Cardiologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

Session: Bioactive Polysaccharides: Structures and Functional Properties. Session Chair: Steve Cui, PhD, Guelph Food Research Centre, Ontario, Canada

Session: Functional Foods and other Non-Communicable Diseases

Session: Medical Foods with Bioactive Compound(s) for the Management and Prevention of Non- Communicable Diseases

• Medical food for diabetes
• Medical foods for Neurological diseases
• Medical foods for CVD
• The effects of medical food on biomarkers of non-communicable diseases

Session: Session: Safety of the Bioactive Compounds and Functional Foods

Session: Research and Development of New Functional Food Products for Non-Communicable Diseases. Session Chair: Danik M. Martirosyan, PhD, President, Functional Food Center/Functional Food Institute, Dallas, TX, USA

Session: Poster Presentations

Panel discussion: Safety of the Bioactive Compounds at Efficacious Levels

Panelists:

Awards and Membership Certificate (Membership for Academic Society of Functional Foods and Bioactive Compounds)

Venue and Accommodation

The conference will take place at the Joseph B. Martin Conference Center at Harvard Medical School on September 15 & 16, 2015. We are offering hotel rooms throughout the weekend at the Inn at Longwood Medical, a popular hotel that is a quick 7 minute walk away from Harvard Medical School. Please read on to find more information regarding the venue, hotel, and possible places to visit while staying in Boston!

Venue

Joseph B. Martin Conference Center at Harvard Medical School

Established in 1636, Harvard University is one of the most prestigious and widely respected universities in the world. Harvard is recognized as the oldest university in the United States, and has maintained unparalleled influence in all areas of academia. It has produced alumni ranging from Nobel Prize winner T.S. Eliot, to current U.S. President Barack Obama.  In the campus' 5,038 acres, there are 12 degree-granting schools offering concentrations in various studies, such as business, engineering, law and education. One of the most notable schools Harvard offers, however, is the esteemed Harvard Medical School. As the United States’ top research medical school, Harvard Medical School has produced 15 Nobel Prize recipients since its establishment in 1782. For over 200 years, Harvard Medical School has been the capital for innovations, advancements and achievements in the medical field, making it the ideal venue to host the 2015 Functional Foods Conference.

The Conference will be held at the Joseph B. Martin Conference Center (77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston, MA) at Harvard Medical School. Please refer to the campus map for directions. If you have general question about conference room location, direction, etc., please call conference center at 617-432-8990.

Accommodations: Hotel and Stay

The Inn at Longwood Medical

This family-owned hotel provides spacious guest rooms and suites designed to maximize comfort and provide visitors with modern amenities, including free Wi-Fi, free coffee and tea, free cable TV, and an extended bathroom. The hotel is located within walking distance of the Harvard Medical Center, where the conference will be held. It is also within walking distance to the T (Boston’s subway transportation), for easy travel to downtown Boston. If you prefer to stay around the area, there are many different restaurants located near the hotel, including the hotel’s own bar and grill. Brookline and Fenway are two popular neighborhoods within walking distance from the Inn that offer plenty of shopping, dining, and nightlife. The close proximity to Harvard Medical Center, along with many other research labs and facilities, make the Longwood Medical the ideal place to lodge during this symposium.

The Inn at Longwood Medical      

342 Longwood Avenue

Boston, MA 02115

Price per night: $219 USD + tax

Conference Reservations:

Individual attendees will make reservations for the event directly with the hotel at 1-(800)-468-2378 or (617)-731-4700.  You can also visit the hotel’s website and under “Reservations” you can fill out the boxes that say “Best Rate Guarantee” and enter the group code: FFCC0914

Cut-Off-Date:

The Inn at Longwood Medical agrees to hold your room until the CUT-OFF DATE of August 14, 2015.  At the cut-off date, the hotel will review the reservations for the event and release the unreserved rooms for general customers. For the attendees that missed the deadline, the hotel will determine whether or not it can accept reservations based on a space-and rate-availability determined from the group rate after the cut-off date.

Directions from Boston Logan International Airport:

For those who are driving:

• Merge onto I-90 West
• Take exit 24 for 1-93, merge onto Thomas P. O’Neil Jr. Tunnel and merge onto I-93 North
• Take exit 26 toward Storrow Drive, keep right at the fork and continue onto MA-28
• Continue onto Storrow Drive and take the exit on the left toward Charlesgate, take a left
• Continue onto Boylston Street
• Turn right onto Park Drive
• Take the first left onto Brookline Avenue
• Turn left onto Longwood Avenue à The Inn at Longwood Medical will be on your right

Information for those arriving from other locations can be found here.

Walking directions from the Hotel to the Conference can be found here.

Tourism

Boston

Boston is one of America’s oldest cities. Since 1822, it served as the economic and cultural hub of New England. Over 617,000 residents inhabit this city and millions more visit each year for the chance to immerse themselves in Boston’s rich history and vibrant culture. Home to many world-class educational institutions such as Harvard University, Boston College, Berklee College of Music, and MIT, the Boston area is a mecca for academic excellence. In addition, Boston boasts  some of the best inpatient hospitals in the world. Through museums, nightlife, restaurants, and sports teams, Boston offers all the amenities and excitement of a modern metropolitan city, while managing to maintain its welcoming atmosphere and historic roots.

Places to Visit

Newbury Street: Boston’s most captivating street offers eight blocks of world-renowned restaurants, coffee shops, nightlife, and shopping. With a wide variety of destinations that accommodate all ages and price ranges, Newbury Street has something for everyone. Try Stephanie’s on Newbury for a meal with a view, or just take a walk along the street to soak up all its unique charm and ambiance.

Duck Tours: Feeling lazy? Take the Boston Duck Tours that take you to various popular tourist spots on both land and sea! Here you can explore a variety of destinations and capture beautiful photos without ever having to leave your seat.

Freedom Trail: For a one-of-a-kind history lesson, follow the freedom trail to see see 16 different historical sites. This 4 km walking trail includes museums, meetinghouses, and churches. Visitors can take a self-guided tour, or opt for a guided one depending on personal preference and time restraints.

Faneuil Hall: Located in the heart of downtown Boston, you can experience the marketplace that has been hosting shoppers since 1742. This eclectic urban marketplace lets you dine, shop, and even enjoy some of Boston’s best street performers all at once. Additionally, its location right across from the New England Aquarium allows you to see two prominent Boston attractions in one afternoon.

Museums: With its vast historic and academic roots, it is no wonder Boston holds a wide array of museums. The Boston Museum of Science features permanent and rotating exhibits exploring topics such as Cosmic Light and Nanotechnology. They also offer planetarium and IMAX shows.  For those who prefer art, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts has collections ranging from ancient Egypt to modern American, as well as everything in between. If neither of those options interests you, there are a multitude of other museums including the Boston Fire Museum, John F. Kennedy Presidential Museum and the USS Constitution Museum.

Conference Program

September 15, 2015

8:30-9:00 Registration

9:00-9:25 Conference Opening

Session: Functional Foods and Obesity. Session Chair: Francine Welty, MD, PhD, Board-Certified Cardiologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.

9:25 - 9:50 Harry G. Preuss, MD, Departments of Biochemistry, Medicine and Pathology, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA. Lowering circulating glucose levels that are in the non-diabetic range is important for long-term optimal health

9:50 - 10:15 Haleama Al Sabbah, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health Nutrition, UAE. Prevalence of overweight, obesity, anemia, and their associations with dietary habits among female students at Zayed University, UAE

10:15 - 10:40 Fatemeh Malekian, PhD, Professor, Food Science, Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Baton Rouge LA, USA. The effects of whey protein and resistant starch on body weight

10:40 - 10:55 Coffee Break

Session: Functional Foods and Neurological Disorders. Session Chair: Andrew Scholey, PhD, Professor, Australia, Professor, Swinburne University, Australia

10:55 - 11:20 Andrew Pipingas, Associate Professor, Head of Neurocognitive Ageing Research, Centre for Human Psychopharmacology (CHP) School of Health Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia. Long chain omega-3 supplementation and neurocognition in healthy adults: efficacy, mechanisms of action and methodological considerations

11:20-11:40 Sana Ben Othman, PhD Student, United Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Gifu University, Japan. Neuroprotective effect of sesame seed water-soluble fraction: antioxidant and anti-apoptotic mechanisms

12:00 - 12:25 Jianmin Chen, PhD, Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Rutgers University, USA. Glutamine has significant therapeutic potential for ataxia telangiectasia: preclinical observations in ATM-deficient mice

12:25 - 12:50 Andrew Scholey, PhD, Professor, Swinburne University, Australia. A role for dietary polyphenols as cognitive enhancers

12:50 -13:50 Lunch

Session: Functional Foods for Chrobic Diseases (CVD, Cancer, and other Chronic Diseases), Session chair: Jin-Rong Zhou, PhD, Associate Professor of Surgery, Nutrition/Metabolism Laboratory, Department of Surgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, USA

13:50-14:25 Nancy J. Emenaker, PhD, R.D.N., Program Director and Project Officer, Nutritional Sciences Research Group, Division of Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland. Developing food-specific molecular profiles and biomarkers of food and nutrient intake, and dietary exposure for reducing cancer risks

14:25 - 14:50 Francesco Marotta, MD, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer of ReGenera Research Group for Aging Intervention, Milano and Chief Medical Officer, Gender Healthy Aging Unit, Montenapoleone Medical Center, Italy. A novel sturgeon-based marine nutraceutical in inflammatory- and stress-related disorders: preliminary pilot study in cancer patients

14:50 - 15:00 Coffee Break

15:00 - 15:25 Hisham R. Ibrahim, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, Japan. Novel bioactive peptides from honey with therapeutic potential for treatment of oxidative stress-related diseases

15:25 - 15:45 Ying Zhu, PhD, School of Agricultural, Food and Wine, University of Adelaide, Glen Osmond, Australia. Australia.Bio-functional effects of almond by-products: Almond hull and almond skin on rat epithelial cells and human colon cancer cells

15:45 - 16:10 Jin-Rong Zhou, PhD, Associate Professor of Surgery, Nutrition/Metabolism Laboratory, Department of Surgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, USA. Bioassay-guided identification of novel anti-cancer bioactive ingredients in black tea

Session: Bioactive Polysaccharides: Structures and Functional Properties. Session Chair: Steve Cui, PhD, Guelph Food Research Centre, Ontario, Canada.

16:10 - 16:30 Ming-Yong Xie, Professor, Vice President of Nanchang University. State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Nanchang University, China. Study on structure and immunoregulatory activity of polysaccharides from food resources

16:30 - 16:50 Shao-Ping Nie, PhD, Professor, State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Nanchang University, China. In vitro and in vivo studies on digestion and fermentation of polysaccharide from seeds of Plantago asiatica L. with its beneficial effects on intestinal health

16:50 - 17:15 Steve Cui, PhD, Guelph Food Research Centre, Ontario, Canada. Bioactive polysaccharides: structures and functional properties

17:15 Closing

September 16, 2015

Session: Functional Foods and Diabetes. Session Chair: Fatemeh Malekian, PhD, Professor, Food Science, Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Baton Rouge LA, USA

9:00 - 9:20 Debasis Bagchi, PhD, Department of Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Houston College of Pharmacy, Houston, TX, USA, and Cepham Research Center, Piscataway, NJ, USA. Safety and effficacy of a novel Trigonella foenum-graceum seed extract (FenfuroTM) and green coffee bean extract (GCB70TM) in attenuating the symptoms of insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome

9:20 - 9:40 Chinagorom Asinobi, PhD, Professor, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Imo State University, Owerri. Effect of commonly consumed traditional fortified staple meals on the postprandial and random blood glucose responses of undergraduate students

9:40 - 10:00 Nurudeen Hassan, PhD Student, Cardiff School of Health Sciences, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff, United Kingdom. A methanolic extract of Trigonella foenum graecum seeds regulates markers of macrophage polarization

10:00 - 10:15 Kuhu Roy, PhD Student, Department of Foods and Nutrition, the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, India. Tinospora cordifolia stem supplementation in diabetic dyslipidemia: an open labelled randomized controlled trial

10:15 - 10:30 Md. Moklesur Rahman Sarker, PhD, Associate Professor and Head, Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Lincoln University College, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. Antihyperglycemic activity of dietary mushrooms (Reishi, Shiitake and Oyster) on alloxan- and glucocorticoid-induced diabetic Long-Evans rats

10:30 - 10:40 Coffee Break

Session: Definition of Functional Foods. Nutraceutical, Functional and Medical Food Regulations. Session Chair: Debasis Bagchi, PhD, Professor, University of College of Pharmacy, Houston, TX, USA

10:40 - 11:05 Danik M. Martirosyan, PhD, President, Functional Food Center, Dallas, TX, USA. A new definition of functional food by FFC: what makes a new definition unique?

11:05 - 11:30 Bruce P. Burnett, PhD, Vice President of Compliance, Regulatory and Medical Affairs, Entera Health, Inc., USA. Current International Legal and Regulatory Environment for Medicinal Foods

11:30 - 11:55 Debasis Bagchi, PhD, Department of Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of College of Pharmacy, Houston, TX, USA. Nutraceutical and functional food regulations in the United States with a special emphasis on GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) status and label claims

Session: Research and Development of new Functional Food Products for Non-Communicable Diseases. Session chair: Danik M. Martirosyan, PhD, President, Functional Food Center, Dallas, TX, USA.

11:55 - 12:20 Janos Zempleni, PhD, Professor, Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA. Depletion of dietary microRNAs from cow’s milk decreases fecundity in mice

12:20 -13:30 Lunch

13:30 - 13:55 Young Chul Kim, PhD, Professor of Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea. An alteration in cytochrome P450 enzymes in liver steatosis induced by intake of a high-carbohydrate/ fat-free diet after food deprivation and its pharmacological significance

13:55 - 14:20 Abraham Amlogu, PhD, University of Westminster, London, UK. A comparative study: Long and short term effect of a nutrition sensitive approach to delay the progression of HIV to AIDS among People Living with HIV (PLWH) in Nigeria

14:20 - 14:45 Manoj K. Bhasin, PhD, Department of Medicine, Division of Interdisciplinary Medicine and Biotechnology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Insilico identification of herbal formaulation for IBD management using systems biology approach

14:45-15:10 Garth Nicolson, PhD, Professor, Emeritus, Department of Molecular Pathology, The Institute for Molecular Medicine, Huntington Beach, CA. USA. Lipid Replacement with a membrane glycerolphospholipid formulation: enhancement of human spermatozoa motility and viability

15:10 - 15:20 Coffee Break

15:20 - 16:20 Session: Poster Presentations

16:20 - 17:00 Panel Discussion: Safety of the Bioactive Compounds at Efficacious Levels

Moderator: Bruce P. Burnett, PhD, Vice President of Compliance, Regulatory and Medical Affairs, Entera Health, Inc., USA

Panelists: Hisham R. Ibrahim, PhD, Professor; Danik Martirosyan, PhD; Jin-Rong Zhou, PhD; Debasis Bagchi, PhD, Professor; Francesco Marotta MD, PhD, and Garth Nicolson, PhD, Professor

17:00 - 17:15 Awards and Membership Certificates (Membership for Academic Society of Functional Foods and Bioactive Compounds)

17:15 - 17:30 Conference Closing

* Please note that the program and sessions are subject to change

For more information about the conference, please contact us by e-mail at ffc_usa@sbcglobal.net. For international calls, please use: 469-441-8272, Toll free: 1-866-202-0487