PROGRAM

View Program Timetable

On this page you will find the following information:

Plenary Speakers
Accepted Speakers to Date
Scientific Program
Poster Presentations
Registration Fees and Information
Social Program
Touring Information

Plenary Speakers and their Presentation Titles

Professor Alison Butler (University of California, Santa Barbara, USA)
Microbial Iron Mining in the Deep Blue Sea

Professor Valeria Culotta (The John Hopkins University, USA)
The Many Highways for Intracellular Trafficking of Metals

Professor Allen Hill (University of Oxford, UK)
Scanning Probe Microscopy and the Electrochemistry of Metalloproteins and Metalloenzymes: Seeing is Believing?

Professor Peter Lay (University of Sydney, Australia)
Chromium in Biology - Toxicology and Nutritional Aspects

Professor Wolfgang Lubitz (Max Planck Institute of Radiation Chemistry, Germany)
Radicals and Metal Centers as Spectroscopic Probes for Structure and Function of Photosynthetic Reaction Centers

Professor Isao Morishima (Kyoto University, Japan)
Dynamical Aspects of Hemoproteins in Relation to Their Functions, with Emphasis on the Interprotein Interactions

Professor José Moura (New University of Lisbon, Portugal)
Molybdenum and Tungsten in Biology

Professor Lawrence Que (University of Minnesota, USA)
Oxygen Activation at Nonheme Iron: Trapping Fe(IV)=O Species

Accepted Speakers to Date

BIO-INORGANIC SENSOR PROTEINS
Teizo Kitagawa, Japan
Shigetoshi. Aono,Japan
Marie-Alda Gilles-Gonzalez, US
Patricia Kiley, US
Kent Rodgers, US
F. Ann Walker, US

BIOSENSORS AND BIOELECTROCHEMISTRY
Jens Ulstrup, Denmark
Yi Lu, US
Kazuko Matsumoto, Japan

COPPER TRANSPORT, HOMEOSTASIS & CELLULAR DISEASE
James Camakaris, Australia
Ninian Blackburn, US
Nigel Brown, Great Britain
Ashley Bush, US
Yoshiaki Furukawa, US
John Hart, US
Marc Solioz, Switzerland
Dennis Winge, US

DNA BINDING PROTEINS
Robert Hausinger, US
Sarah Michel, US
David Petering, US
Robert Scott, US

ENVIRONMENTAL BIO-INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
Anne-Katherin Duhme-Klair, Great Britain
Cornelius Friedrich, Germany
Mary Neu, US
David Richardson, Great Britain
Jonathan Wilker, US

GIANT CLUSTERS IN BIOLOGY
Dimitri Coucouvanis, US
Charles Dismukes, US
Shinnichiro Suzuki, Japan
Elizabeth Theil, US
Roger Thorneley, Great Britain
Milan Vasak, Switzerland
Toshihiro Yamase, Japan

HEME OXYGENASES
Paul Bernhardt, Australia
Sunney Chan, Taiwan
John Dawson, US
Wonwoo Nam, Korea,
Yoshinori Naruta, Japan

HEME PROTEINS AND ENZYMES
Yoshihito Watanabe, Japan
A. Grant Mauk, US
Katrina Miranda, US
W. Robert Scheidt, US
Takashi Hayashi, Japan

INORGANIC MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY
Peter Sadler, Great Britain
Timothy Egan, South Africa
Hongzhe Sun, Hong Kong
Brian Mann, Great Britain
Duarte Mota de Freitas, US
Chris Orvig, Canada
David Wink, US
Zijian Guo, China
Dan Gibson, Israel
Dieter Rehder, Germany
Margaret Harding, Australia

IMAGING
Jonathan Sessler, US
Wing-Tak Wong, Hong Kong

INTERACTION OF METAL IONS WITH NUCLEOTIDES AND NUCLEIC ACIDS
Bernard Lippert, Germany
Jan Reedijk, Holland
Xiaogang Qu, China
Jinsong Ren, China

LIGAND DESIGN
David Goldberg, US
Shinobu Itoh, Japan
Julie Kovacs, US
Hideki Masuda, Japan
Charles Riordan, US

METALS AND OXIDATIVE STRESS
Arthur Glasfeld, US
Donald Kurtz, US
Geoffrey Jameson, NZ
Kazuhiko Ichikawa, Japan

MOLYBDENUM AND TUNGSTEN ENZYMES
Norikazu Ueyama, Japan
Charles Young, Australia
Wolfgang Buckel, Germany
John Enemark, US
C. David Garner, Great Britain
Russ Hille, US
Martin Kirk, US
Alastair McEwan, Australia

NICKEL, ENZYMES AND HYDROGENASES
Stefano Ciurli, Italy
Stephen Best, Australia
Catherine Drennan, US
Bärbel Friedrich, Germany
Lichen Sun, Sweden
Michael Maroney, US
Wen-Feng Liaw, Taiwan
Martin Schroder, UK

NON-HEME OXYGENASES
Karl Wieghardt, Germany
Arianna Bassan, Sweden
J. Martin Bollinger, Jr., US
Andrew Borovick, US
Kiyosh Fujisawa, Japan
Friedhelm. Lendzian, Germany
Christine McKenzie, Denmark
Edward Solomon, US

PROTEIN FOLDING
Harry Gray, US
Shun Hirota, Japan
George McLendon, US
Vincent Pecoraro, US
Paola Turano, Italy
Shyamalava Mazamudar, India

REACTIVE IRON-SULFUR CENTRES
Bruce Averill, US
Michael Johnson, US
Boi Hanh Huynh, US

SPECTROSCOPY AND COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY
Daniella Goldfarb, Israel
Graham George, US
Frank Neese, Germany
Liang-nian Ji, China
Ulf Ryde, Sweden

ZINC PROTEINS AND ZINC SENSING
Timothy Donohue, US
Paul Ellis, US
Kazuya Kikuchi, Japan
Zongwan Mao, China
Stephen Lincoln, Australia
James Penner-Hahn, US
Thomas O'Halloran, US

TUTORIAL ON STRUCTURAL GENOMICS
Antonio Rosato, Italy

Professor Alison Butler

Professor Alison Butler is Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA. She obtained her PhD in chemistry at the University of California, San Diego in 1982 and held postdoctoral positions with Joan Valentine (UCLA) and Harry Gray (Caltech) in 1982-5.

She is to be Chair of two future Gordon Research Conferences: Metals in Biology in 2004 and Environmental Bio-inorganic Chemistry (EBIC) in 2006.

The Butler group studies metallobiochemistry with an emphasis on the roles of metal ions in the catalytic activity of metalloenzymes. An area of current interest is the mechanism of acquisition of transition metal ions by marine microorganisms. The transition metal composition of the ocean is very unusual. The types of ligands (siderophores) and other metal uptake components in marine bacteria are being examined to determine the similarities and differences in metal binding reactions between marine and terrestrial systems. These ligands have potential as metal sensors.

Professor Valeria Culotta

Professor Valeria Culotta is Professor of Environmental Health Sciences and Biochemistry in Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA. She obtained her PhD in molecular biology from The Johns Hopkins University in 1987. She was a postdoctoral fellow in the Laboratory of Biochemistry of the National Cancer Institute, NIH before returning to Johns Hopkins in 1990.

Her research focuses on the role of metal ions in biology and in disease. Molecular genetic approaches in the simple unicellular eukaryote, bakers yeast, is exploited. A number of genes involved in metal trafficking have been cloned and characterised. Virtually all of these have human homologues. In particular, a novel paradigm of copper trafficking in eukaryotic cells has been established. It involves the combined action of metal transporters and soluble copper carrier proteins known as copper chaperones. The discovery of the CCS copper chaperone for the superoxide dismutase enzyme (SOD1) has facilitated studies addressing the mechanism by which mutations in human SOD1 lead to the fatal motor neuron disease, ALS, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Yeast has proven to be an excellent organism for revealing new genes and new pathways of metal trafficking that are well conserved throughout eukaryotes. A similar approach to an understanding of manganese biology is underway.

Professor Allen Hill

Professor Allen Hill, FRS is Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oxford. He obtained his PhD from The Queen's University of Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1962 and his DSc from the University of Oxford in 1985. He has published 380 research papers and book chapters and holds 19 patents.

Professor Hill pioneered the application of direct electrochemistry to metalloprotein systems. He is the inventor of the glucose electrode, the world's most used analytical device. His current interests concentrate on design of biosensors including ultra-micro electrodes. The company Oxford Biosensors Ltd is dedicated to their commercial development. He is also applying scanning probe microscopy to image proteins, ameloid fibrils and human cells.

Professor Peter Lay

Professor Peter Lay holds a Personal Chair in Chemistry at the University of Sydney and is currently an Australian Professorial Fellow supported by the Australian Research Council. He obtained his PhD from the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia in 1981.

A major theme of his research concentrates on the chemistry, biochemistry and cell biology of chromium and nickel and, in particular, their toxicology and role in occupational cancers. A wide variety of spectroscopic, structural, biochemical and cell biology techniques are employed to better understand crucial molecular details. One aim is to develop protective dietary protocols for metal-induced cancers and to develop new potential pharmaceuticals.

Professor Wolfgang Lubitz

Professor Wolfgang Lubitz is Director at the Max Planck Institute of Radiation Chemistry, in Mülheim/Ruhr, Germany and is a Scientific Member of the Max Planck Society. He obtained his PhD with Professors Kurreck and Möbius at the Free University of Berlin in 1977.

His research work is based upon development of methods of paramagnetic resonance and rigorous theoretical interpretation of the data. Applications have concentrated on short-lived intermediates in biological reactions (with an emphasis on the primary processes of photosynthesis). Other interests include radical centres in enzymes, the water oxidase centre in Photosystem II and the [NiFe] and [Fe2] centres in hydrogenases.

Professor Isao Morishima

Professor Isao Morishima is Professor of Molecular Engineering and Director of the Fukui Institute for Fundamental Chemistry at Kyoto University, Japan. He obtained his PhD in physical chemistry with Professor Fukui at Kyoto University in 1969. He has published in excess of 250 research papers and received the Chemical Society of Japan Award in 2001.

The Institute uses biophysical, biochemical, molecular biological and protein engineering methods to delineate structure-function relations in metalloenzymes and proteins, especially the heme proteins. NMR is employed as the major technique to probe protein dynamics and its relationship with function. In addition, laser photolysis under pressure and with rapid mixing and freeze-quenching is employed to detect unstable reaction intermediates.

Professor José Moura

Professor José Moura is Professor of Chemistry at the New University of Lisbon, Portugal where he received his DPhil in bio-inorganic chemistry in 1979. He has published more than 270 scientific papers.

His laboratory specialises in the isolation of bacterial metallo-enzymes. These are often complex multi-centred systems featuring vanadium, heme and non-heme iron, cobalt, nickel, molybdenum, and tungsten. Both their catalytic and structural properties are examined employing a wide range of techniques including spectroscopy (NMR, EPR, Mossbauer, Xray absorption) and Xray crystallography.

Professor Lawrence Que

Professor Lawrence Que, Jr is 3M/Alumni Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA. He obtained his PhD in chemistry from that University in 1973. He has published more than 280 scientific papers and is Chief Editor of the Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry.

His laboratory focuses primarly on the unique challenges associated with dioxygen activation by
non-heme iron centres in biological systems (and secondarily by manganese and copper). These include methane mono-oxygenase which is capable of the oxidising methane to methanol, a reaction of high industrial potential. The approach combines biological methods and inorganic synthesis with a range of spectroscopic and kinetic techniques to investigate how iron can activate dioxygen to carry out metabolically important and chemically interesting reactions.

Poster Presentations

1. Your poster will be displayed during your allocated Poster Session only.

2. Check in at the Registration Desk for directions to your poster area and collect your velcro/pins on the day of your poster session. Maximum poster size is 1.2m width x 1.8m height.

3. Posters should be readable from a distance of at least 1 metre.

4. The presenting author must be in attendance on the day of the poster session and should be available to stand by their poster during the allocated viewing times.

5. Authors are encouraged to provide A4 sized copies of their poster for distribution to delegates interested in their work.

6. Posters should be removed at the conclusion of the allocated Poster Session. Remaining posters will be discarded.

REGISTRATION FEES IN AUSTRALIAN DOLLARS

REGISTRATION FEES IN AUSTRALIAN DOLLARS
(Refer to http://www.oanda.com for Currency Conversion)

BEFORE 9 MAY 2003
Full Delegate: 1,220.00 (1)
SBIC Member: 1,000.00 (2)
SBIC Member Postdoctorate: 800.00 (2,3)
SBIC Member Postgraduate: 600.00 (2)
RACI Delegate: 770.00 (4)
RACI Postdoctorate: 560.00 (4)
RACI Postgraduate: 420.00 (4)
Accompanying Person: 150.00

AFTER 9 MAY 2003
Full Delegate: 1,370.00 (1)
SBIC Member: 1,150.00 (2)
SBIC Member Postdoctorate: 950.00 (2,3)
SBIC Member Postgraduate: 750.00 (2)
RACI Delegate: 875.00 (4)
RACI Postdoctorate: 710.00 (4)
RACI Postgraduate: 570.00 (4)
Accompanying Person: 150.00

AFTER 11 JULY AND ON-SITE
Full Delegate: 1,470.00 (1)
SBIC Member: 1,250.00 (2)
SBIC Member Postdoctorate: 1,050.00 (2,3)
SBIC Member Postgraduate: 850.00 (2)
RACI Delegate: 975.00 (4)
RACI Postdoctorate: 810.00 (4)
RACI Postgraduate: 670.00 (4)
Accompanying Person: 250.00

1. The full delegate fee includes a one-year membership to SBIC (One year SBIC Full Membership Fee $220; One year SBIC Student Membership Fee $145).

2. These rates are for SBIC members only.

3. A postdoctorate member is one that has been awarded their doctorate degree in the 1998 - 2003 period. Certification from your employer/supervisor is required to receive either the postdoctorate or graduate student rates.

4. These rates are subsidised by the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) and other Australian sources. To be eligible for this reduced rate, delegates must be members of the RACI.

REGISTRATION ENTITLEMENTS

DELEGATE ENTITLEMENTS:
Entry to all scientific sessions, including evening lectures
Attendance at Welcome Reception on Saturday evening
Morning and afternoon tea daily
Attendance at Conference Dinner on Wednesday evening
Conference Satchel
Final Program and Abstract Book
Entry to Industry Trade Exhibition

ACCOMPANYING PERSON ENTITLEMENTS:
Attendance at Welcome Reception on Saturday evening
Attendance at Conference Dinner on Wednesday evening

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Registration and Fee Remittance Procedures
All fees should be paid using the online registration form. The following credit cards will be accepted by the Conference Secretariat: Mastercard, Diners Club, Bankcard, Visa, American Express.

Multiple Attendee Registration
Organisations who purchase multiple registrations (minimum 3 registrations) are entitled to exchange name badges and documents between company personnel, provided the numbers in attendance at any one time do not exceed the number of registrations purchased. Name badges are issued in the organisation's name, not individual names.

Registration Acknowledgment and Confirmation
Your registration will be acknowledged by fax or post confirming your requirements. Attendance at the Conference, however, will not be confirmed until full payment is received by the Secretariat.

Registration Desk
Please collect your registration documents upon arrival. The desk will be open during the following hours.

Saturday 19 July: 11.00am - 6.00pm
Sunday 20 July: 7.30am - 6.00pm
Monday 21 July: 8.00am - 1.00pm
Tuesday 22 July: 8.00am - 6.00pm
Wednesday 23 July: 8.00am - 6.00pm

Alterations
Alterations or amendments to your registration can only be accepted by fax +61 3 9682 0288 or email icbic11@icms.com.au

Cancellations and Refunds
Registration cancellations must be advised in writing to the Conference Secretariat. Cancellations received prior to 1 May 2003 will receive a refund of registration fees less an administration charge of AUD95.00. No refunds will apply after this date. Social program tickets cancelled after 1 July are non-refundable. Cancellations should be faxed to +61 3 9682 0288 or via email icbic11@icms.com.au

Catering
Delegates will be able to purchase lunch at the Convention Centre on Sunday - Wednesday. Sandwiches, fruit, cold drinks, snack foods, pies and a variety of coffees will be available for purchase. In addition, there are a variety of restaurants and cafe's in the nearby city centre.

Liability
The Program Committee including the Conference Secretariat will not accept liability for damages of any nature sustained by participants or their accompanying persons, or loss of, or damage to, their personal property as a result of the Conference or related events.

In the event of industrial disruption or other unforeseen circumstances, the Conference Organisers accept no responsibility for loss of monies incurred by delegates. Delegates should make their own arrangements with respect to personal insurance.

Privacy Legislation
In registering for this Conference, relevant details will be incorporated into a participant list for the benefit of all delegates (name, e-mail and organisation only). Details may be available to parties directly related to the Conference including the venues and accommodation providers (for the purpose of room bookings and Conference options), key sponsors and exhibitors (subject to strict conditions) and to inform you of future International Biological Inorganic Chemistry Conferences. Please indicate on the registration form if you do not wish to have your name included in these lists.

Social Program

Welcome Reception
Date: Saturday 19 July
Venue: Outdoor Plaza, Cairns Convention Centre
Time: 6.30pm - 8.00pm
Cost: Included in registration and accompanying person fees
Additional Tickets: $45 per person

ICBIC 11 Official Conference Dinner
Date: Wednesday 23 July
Venue: Cairns Convention Centre
Time: 7.30pm - 11.30pm
Cost: Included in registration and accompanying person fees
Additional Tickets: $100 per person

Tour Information

Destination Cairns has been appointed as the official touring operator for ICBIC 11. Destination Cairns is a locally owned and operated travel company. Established in 1986, the company has built their reputation as a leading service provider in Far North Queensland.

For further information about the tours and bookings, please click here.

PRE- AND POST- CONFERENCE TOURS
Destination Cairns has developed a variety of tours that you can enjoy either before or after the Conference from 2 - 5 days in length.

Tjapukai by Night
Date: Sunday 20 July
Time: 6.30pm - 11.00pm
Cost: $96 per adult; $48 per child
For bookings click here.

This amazing cultural experience is like nothing you will have ever experienced. Join the Pamagirri Dancers and Aboriginal people and share their stories in an amazing performance. The cost includes return coach transfers, five-star buffet dinner and Welcome Ceremony & Dance Show.

Ocean Spirit Dinner Cruise
Date: Monday 21 July
Time: 7.00pm - 9.30pm
Cost: $70 per adult; $38 per child
For bookings click here.

The cost includes return coach transfers from your hotel, cruise on a luxurious catamaran, complimentary glass of champagne on arrival, 4 course seafood buffet and live entertainment.

OPTIONAL HALF-DAY TOURS
Monday 21 July is a program free afternoon for all delegates. Should you wish to explore the region, there are a number of half-day tours available including a cruise to Green Island, a visit to Hartley's Creek Crocodile Adventures, a trip to Kuranda Rainforest Village via Skyrail and Scenic Railway and a discover the City sights of Cairns.

For further information and bookings, please click here.