Heparin

The International Symposium on Heparin was held at Saskatoon, July 6-8, 1977. The purposes of the symposium were multiple. Foremost among them was the opportunity to honor a persistent and gifted scientist who had unflaggingly devoted over 40 years to heparin research. Although Louis Barker Jaques' contributions are legion, the timing of the symposium was perhaps equally dictated by the novel findings emanating from research centers in Boston, Uppsala, S�o Paulo, Toronto, Montreal, London, and Saskatoon. The mid-1970's produced a surge in application of new techniques to the age-old problems of heterogeneity and polydispersity of the mucopolysaccharides. Results of these studies suggested better understanding of the complex molecules termed heparin could be obtained. With this objective in mind, the symposium was organized to bring together experts from diverse disciplines that related to the heparin problem. Individuals were encouraged to discuss at length older and newer concepts pertaining to the heparin molecule, its pharmacology, physiology, and clinical application.