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The Vitamin D Workshop, founded 30 years ago, is partnering with the National Cancer Institute to co-sponsor the event, which will be held at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) campus.

The purpose of this meeting is to bring together two groups of scientists, those who research cancer prevention and treatments with scientists who research Vitamin D, or more specifically, the steroid hormone form of vitamin D, 1,25-dihydroxy-vitamin D, also known as Hormone D. In 1967, Norman’s laboratory at UC Riverside discovered that vitamin D is converted into this steroid hormone by the body.

Many laboratories are working on drug forms of Hormone D for treatment of some cancers, particularly prostate cancer and leukemia, Norman said. “There is also much interest in what is the proper amount of the parent vitamin D - not the hormone - that an average individual should receive each day.”

Norman’s laboratory is currently involved in better understanding the molecular mechanisms of how Hormone D generates biological responses.

A distinguished professor of biochemistry and biomedical sciences at UCR, Prof. Norman has served as one of three principal organizers of the Vitamin D Workshop, which has held an international meeting every three years, alternating between Europe and the USA. The Workshop celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2003 at the 12th Vitamin D Workshop in Maastricht, The Netherlands. The next Vitamin D Workshop will be held April 7-12, 2006 in Victoria, B.C., Canada.

Vitamin D Workshop The University of California, Riverside is a major research institution and a national center for the humanities. Key areas of research include nanotechnology, genomics, environmental studies, digital arts and sustainable growth and development. With a current undergraduate and graduate enrollment of nearly 17,000, the campus is projected to grow to 21,000 students by 2010. Located in the heart of inland Southern California, the nearly 1,200-acre, park-like campus is at the center of the region's economic development. Visit www.ucr.edu or call 951-UCR-NEWS for more information. Media sources are available at http://www.mediasources.ucr.edu/.