Together with Bruce Tromberg of the University of California, Irvine, Amir Gandjbakhche organized the fifth Inter-Institute Workshop on Diagnostic Optical Imaging and Spectroscopy: from Bench to Bedside, which was held at the National Institutes of Health on September 25-27, 2006; more than 400 researchers from academia, government, and industry attended. During the presentations and poster session, the latest theoretical and technological advances in in-vivo microscopy and diffuse imaging were discussed. Opportunities and critical technological developments with the greatest potential for clinical and research utilities were also covered.

The workshop's six keynote speakers were Dr. Robert Balaban (Scientific Director, NHLBI), Dr. Alan Koretsky (Scientific Director, NINDS), Dr. Daniel Sullivan (Associate Director of the Cancer Imaging Program, NCI), Dr. Belinda Seto (Deputy Director, NIBIB), Dr. Gary Griffiths (Director of the Imaging Probe Development Center, NIH), and Prof. Brian Wilson (University of Toronto), who was honored for his extraordinary pioneering contributions to the translation of optical technologies from blackboard to benchtop to bedside.

Each of the workshop's 10 sessions was dedicated to a different aspect of the optical imaging field and the translation of this research from bench to the bedside. The first session described the emerging field of molecular imaging, which allows specific targeting of cells in order to study the molecular origin of diseases and integration of exogenous molecular probes as contrast agents. Other exciting fields included sessions on "Translating Optical Technologies from Benchtop to Clinical Standard" and "Optical Devices and Methods in Drug Discovery: Role of Industry." The last scientific session was devoted to the efforts of various companies to introduce optical imaging techniques into the clinical area. The meeting ended with an exploration of funding opportunities for optics at NIH. Besides the presenters' sessions there were also three scientific panels: "Translating Optical Technologies from Benchtop to Clinical Standard," "Effective Interaction Among Research Institutions," and "The Private Sector, and Optics in Neuroscience." These panels helped create open discussions and exchange of ideas between panelists and the audience.

Together with Jennifer Lansford (Duke University), Kirby Deater-Deckard (Virginia Tech University), Marc Bornstein organized a Conference on Immigrant Families, which was held at Duke University on 19-20 May 2006. This interdisciplinary conference convened scholars who work on immigration and parenting, child development, and family life. Its purpose was to assess and evaluate the status of immigration as a scientific construct and the role of immigration in child health and human development. Topics covered included ethnic identity research (as it applies to immigrant families), acculturational, adaptational, and religious contexts, immigration from an economist's viewpoint, and educational interventions. The proceedings of the conference will be published as a book by the Guilford Press.

Carolyn Bondy organized a conference on Wellness for Girls and Women with Turner Syndrome, which brought together the world's leading experts on Turner syndrome (TS) and was held in Bethesda in April 2006. More than 40 academicians specializing in TS, including geneticists, pediatricians, cardiologists, psychiatrists, gynecologists, and medical endocrinologists participated in the meeting and contributed important new guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of TS. These included a recommendation that parents receiving a prenatal diagnosis of TS be advised of the broad phenotypic spectrum and the good quality of life observed in TS in recent years, a strong recommendation for more intensive screening of the cardiovascular system using MR imaging, and attention to electrocardiographic problems coupled with new caution in exercise regimens and pregnancy for individuals with cardiovascular involvement. Recommendations included refraining from delaying puberty (the delay is often recommended to promote statural growth), comprehensive educational evaluation in early childhood to identify potential attention-deficit or non-verbal learning disorders, advising caregivers to address the prospect of premature ovarian failure in an open and sensitive manner and to emphasize the critical importance of estrogen treatment for feminization and for bone health during the adult years, and finally, that adults with TS be monitored for aortic enlargement, hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia. The guidelines are to be published as an article in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (Care of Girls and Women with Turner Syndrome: a Guideline of the Turner Syndrome Study Group) and in book form.