ASHS Newsletter 2010 June : Page 1
ASHS Newsletter Vol. 26, No. 6 In this issue: Thompson Address to Focus on “Biomedical Agriculture”................... 1 Reflections .................... 3 Reported Death............... 5 Notice to Working Group Members.............. 6 On the Legislative Front ............................... 7 University News.............. 8 Notes from the Archivist...................... 11 The ASHS Top Ten Lists for May........................ 12 International Opportunities for Horticulturists............. 14 HortOpportunities ...... 19 Horticultural Science Calendar ........ 23 Dedicated to advancing horticultural research, education, and application for over 100 years William A. “Tex” Frazier Lecture Series Thompson Address to Focus on “Biomedical Agriculture” The American Society for Horticultural Science is pleased to announce that Hen- ry J. Thompson has been selected as this year’s William A. “Tex” Frazier Lecturer. Thompson is the Director of the Cancer Prevention Laboratory at Colorado State University’s Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, College of Agricultural Sciences, in Fort Collins. He will speak on the topic of “Breeding for Human Health Traits, an Emerging Facet in Contemporary Crop Improvement” at the ASHS Annual Conference, to be held August 2–5 2010 at the Desert Springs JW Marriott Resort and Spa, Palm Des- ert, California. According to Thompson, “Cancer, car- Reserve your hotel room by July 1 to receive special conference rates! see p. 2 for details diovascular disease, diabetes (type-II), and obesity are major health concerns in developed and developing regions around the world. These chronic diseases are in many circumstances considered to be preventable via various facets of life- style. Prominent among these lifestyle factors is the type and amount of food eaten, particularly those foods of plant origin. The primary mechanisms targeted for food-mediated disease risk reduction are altered glucose metabolism, chronic inflammation, excessive cellular oxida- tion, and/or chronic endotoxemia. Given the profound physical, psychosocial, and economic consequences of chronic dis- eases and the potential of food crops to meaningfully reduce chronic disease risk, we decided to challenge scientists in a broad array of disciplines to join forces in June 2010 Henry J. Thompson Director, Cancer Prevention Laboratory Colorado State University an effort to harness existing and emerg- ing capabilities in agriculture and the bio- medical sciences to reduce chronic dis- ease prevalence. We have coined the term ‘biomedical agriculture’ to describe this transdisciplinary research effort.” Thompson’s presentation will highlight promising examples of the discovery pro- cess being used to develop more healthful food crops, as well as underscore chal- lenges being encountered in pursuing this strategy. Topics to be covered include: • the role of health profiling of a crop in designing a program of research; • exploitation of the biodiversity of crop varieties for identifying health charac- teristics; • selection of model systems for evaluat- ing health traits; and Continued on p. 5 American Society for Horticultural Science • 1018 Duke St. • Alexandria, Va. 22314 USA phone 703.836.4606 • fax 703.836.2024 • ashs.org • ashs@ashs.org ASHS Newsletter, Vol. 26(6), June 2010 1
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