Science is about generating and sharing new knowledge. In this workshop, we will address the importance of broad communication and outreach in conveying scientific knowledge to society at large. The workshop will begin and end with group discussions led by panelists with diverse backgrounds united by engagement in outreach activities with general audiences. In between, participants will use a Speed Dating format to brainstorm scientific communication successes and challenges, getting and giving feedback on issues they have encountered. Overall, participants will develop communication skills for scientific activities and learn about engagement opportunities in outreach initiatives.
Chemoreception, including taste and smell, plays a critical role in fundamental physiology and behavior. Over the past several years, tremendous progress has been made towards understanding the chemosensory mechanisms underlying complex physiology and behaviors in genetically tractable model organisms, such as flies, ants, and worms. In this proposed workshop, the speakers will present their work on the receptors and signaling molecules dedicated to gustatory or olfactory perception in flies, ants, and worms. Moreover, the speakers will discuss the use of genetic model organisms to provide novel insights into chemosensory regulation of metabolism, aging and social behaviors.
Hua Yan, University of Florida - Olfaction and social behavior in Ants
John Mack, Monell Chemical Senses Center, University of Pennsylvania - Molecular and cellular basis of taste coding in Drosophila
Shawn Xu, Life Sciences Institute, University of Michigan - Chemosensation and aging in C. elegans Time: 20 min (15 minutes + 5 minutes Q&A)
Yangkyun Oh, Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, New York University - A pair of glucose-sensing neurons regulate glucose homeostasis by coordinating the release of insulin and glucagon in Drosophila
Roundtable discussionRaising a Woke Generation of Geneticists: How and Why to Include Eugenics History in Genetics Classes
This workshop is for everyone who teaches undergraduate and graduate genetics and is concerned about eugenics in the modern era. Whether you already discuss eugenics in class or don’t know where to start, bring your ideas and questions to the workshop! We will review the history of eugenics and share educational strategies that have worked and failed. We will break out to tackle specific challenges, such as creating safe spaces for students to learn from each other, assessing student learning outcomes, and how to discuss the ethics of GWA studies of complex human traits including intelligence and sexual orientation.
Just how are decisions made to fund a research proposal? What makes one proposal score well, while another might not meet the bar?
This workshop provides attendees with important and useful information related to applying for research funding. Attendees hear talks from experienced investigators and program officers, and have a chance to ask questions in a friendly, low-stress environment.
Attendees will learn about:
The dogma of DNA makes RNA makes protein while of course still valid does not begin to describe the complexity of life. Multiple feedback loops operate at every level of gene and regulation and protein function. This workshop will focus on non-traditional genetic phenomena including transgenerational inheritance, genetic compensation and transcriptional adaptation.
1:00 p.m. Introduction: Didier Stainier and Julie Claycomb
1:05 p.m. Julie Claycomb, University of Toronto, Untangling the tentacled of the C. elegans Argonaute family
1:20 p.m. Rebecca Moore (PhD Student, Murphy Lab), Princeton University, C. elegans uses bacterial small RNAs and RNA interference to interpret the microbiome
1:35 p.m. Xin Chen (Rajesh Ranjan, Postdoc), Johns Hopkins University, Investigate how asymmetric epigenetic information is established in multicellular organisms
1:50 p.m. Giovanni Bosco, Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, Neuromodulation and reprogramming of germline cell in Drosophila
2:05 p.m. Jay B. Hollick, The Ohio State University, Paramutation
2:20 p.m. Satyaki Rajavasireddy (Postdoc, Gehring Lab), Whitehead Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Antagonistic parental regulation of zygotic development: a small RNA view from seeds
2:35 p.m. Didier Stainier, Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, Genetic compensation and transcriptional adaptation
2:50 a.m. General discussion
The workshop will cover the molecular genetics, development, neurobiology, genomics, evolution, and population genetics of sexual dimorphism, with an emphasis on fostering the exchange of knowledge and development of collaborations necessary for building cross-disciplinary and cross-organism research communities. Presentations by four invited speakers working in Drosophila, nematode, zebrafish, and mammalian models will be followed by selected flash talks from early career researchers. The speakers are encouraged to summarize the key ideas behind their research for people working in other models and fields, outline the main unsolved questions, offer thoughts about future directions, and suggest connections across models and disciplines.
1:00 p.m. Opening Remarks
1:03 p.m. Douglas Portman, University of Rochester, Sexual state in C. elegans: Binary and static, or flexible and dynamic?
1:21 p.m. Didem P. Sarikaya, University of California Davis, Sex-specific traits: from cells to systems.
1:39 p.m. Kellee Siegfried, University of Massachusetts Boston, The zebrafish dmrt gene family: roles in sex-determination and gonad development.
1:57 p.m. Daniel Wilson Bayless, Stanford, A sexually dimorphic neural circuit for sex/mate recognition in mice.
2:15 p.m. Chen Wang, Columbia University, Expression and functional studies of the DM-domain transcription factors reveal novel sexual dimorphisms.
2: 22 p.m. Lydia Grmai, Johns Hopkins University, Sex-specific ecdysone signaling is established by Dsx to regulate gonad stem cell niche development.
2:29 p.m. Huangyi He, Zhejiang University, Evolution and development of Drosophila sperm heteromorphism.
2:36 p.m. Erica Nadolski, The University of Oklahoma, The genetics of sex-specific reproductive traits in Drosophila.
2:43 p.m. Kiran Adhikari, University of Houston, Temperature-dependent phenotypic effects of house fly proto-Y chromosomes explain the maintenance of polygenic sex determination in natural populations.
2:50 p.m. Nipun Basrur, The Rockefeller University, Sexual dimorphism in mosquito behavior.
2:57 p.m. Closing Remarks
The Bridging Research and Education Workshop (BREW) will be held virtually on July 13, from 1-3 PM ET. The workshop will focus on yeast experiments for undergraduate teaching labs and approaches for bridging research and education. It will include ~ 6 talks followed by breakout rooms for interactions with each of the speakers. We are particularly interested in the following topics:
If you would like to be considered for a talk, please send a short abstract describing of your topic to Mary Miller by May 15th, 2020. Please indicate BREW in the subject line.
To be added to the BREW mailing list email Orna Cohen-Fix at ornac@niddk.nih.gov. Also, if you can think of ways of advertising this workshop, and in particular among professors in primarily undergraduate institutions, please let Orna know.
More details regarding registration (which will be free) and how to connect via Zoom will be available as we get closer to the date.