The second BON (Brain and Ocular Nutrition) conference was held in the Howard Theatre at Downing College from 27th to 29th July. This was the fifth conference on Macular Carotenoids sponsored by the Foundation.
This conference, held over from 2021 due to the pandemic, was attended by over 130 scientists and commercial partners. There were twenty four scientific presentations and a number of poster presentation from young researchers. The organising committee made a special effort to encourage younger scientists to participate. Each of the nine scientific session had two chairs with one being a young researcher.
There were three awards presented at the gala dinner on the Thursday evening:
The Alan Howard Medal for Best E-Poster:
1st Place: Mr. Warren Roche
2nd Place: Mr. Emmanuel Kofi-Addo
3rd Place: Ms. Mickeal Key
The Invited Speaker Award:
1st Place: Dr. Christopher Zwilling
2nd Place: Ms. Uzoamaka Nwagbo
The Early Investigator of the Year Award (The George Britton Medal):
1st Place: Dr. Kwadwo Akuffo
2nd Place: Ms. Parimala Sivaperuman
Dr George Britton was a special guest at the conference. Dr Britton has been a leading researcher on Carotenoids since 1966, starting at the time of pioneering chemistry research to uncover the secrets of Lutein and Zeaxanthin. He has published over 56 papers and wrote the first books on the subject.
The BON committee, working together with the Howard Foundation, plan for the next conference to be held for the first time in the USA in 2025.