Shaw & Ramwell: Preface

PREFACE

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I t w a s a g r e a t p l easu re f o r us t o welcome o l d and new f r i e n d s t o t h i s conference. Three yea r s ago w e he ld a Symposium on Pros tag landins+ a t t h e Worcester Foundation, and it w a s a s ad t i m e t f o r D r . Gregory Pincus had j u s t d i ed . H e spoke o f t e n about p o t e n t i a l l u t e o l y t i c and l u t e o t r o p i c f a c t o r s t a n d h i s v i s i o n has s i n c e been j u s t i f i e d , f o r one of t h e major developments i n t h e f i e l d of reproduct ive phys io l - ogy s i n c e 1 9 6 7 has been t h e demonstrat ion of t h e remarkable e f f e c t s of p ros t ag land ins on steroidogenesis,luteolysis, abor t ion and i n te rmina t ion of pregnancy.

A t t h i s r e c e n t meeting,owing t o t h e i n t e n s i t y of in - terest and re levance of p ros t ag land ins t o popula t ion con- t r o l l t h e r e w e r e t h r e e s e s s i o n s on reproduct ion ,one of which w a s added dur ing t h e conference. Unfortunately,some h igh ly s i g n i f i c a n t areas of r e sea rch could n o t be inc luded i n t h e programland t o those working i n these a r e a s w e extend our s i n c e r e apo log ie s .

W e wish to thank t h e more than 500 r e g i s t r a n t s from 28 c o u n t r i e s f o r t h e i r a t tendance ,and w e are g r a t e f u l t o t h e Academy s t a f f and our chairmen f o r a l l t h e i r h e l p and enthusiasm. I t i s a p a r t i c u l a r p l easu re t o thank our organ- i z a t i o n secre ta ry ,Dorothy Schnur r , fo r he lp ing us from t h e f i r s t let ters about t he Conference t o t h e typing and proof- i n g of t h e l a s t pages of t he Proceedings.

The photo o f f s e t p rocess has been used , s ince t h e prime purpose of t h i s Conference was t o e l i c i t in format ion and ideas f o r r a p i d d isseminat ion by t h e Academy throughout t h e w o r l d , t o a l l t hose wi th immediate i n t e r e s t s i n t h e p ros t ag land ins , and a l s o t o those who have y e t t o t u r n t h e i r a t t e n t i o n t o t h i s remarkable f i e l d .

W e a l s o wish t o express our a p p r e c i a t i o n and indebted- ness t o t h e fol lowing o rgan iza t ions f o r t h e i r f i n a n c i a l s uppor t :

Agency f o r I n t e r n a t i o n a l Development,Washington,D.C. Allergan Pha rmaceu t i ca l s tCa l i fo rn ia Alza Corporat ion, C a l i f o r n i a Ciba Pharmaceut ical Co. , N e w J e r sey G.D. S e a r l e & C o . , I l l i n o i s Hoffmann-La Roche Inc . , N e w J e r sey Merck,Sharp & Dohme,New Je r sey O f f i c e of Naval Research,Washington,D.C. Syntex Labora to r i e s Inc . , C a l i f o r n i a Upjohn Company,Michigan Wallace Pharmaceut icals , N e w J e r sey

Jane Shaw and Peter Ramwell Conference Chairmen

?Pros tag landin Symposium of t h e Worcester Foundation f o r Experimental Bio logy , In te rsc ience ,N.Y. 1 9 6 8 .