Speakers:
Friday'
Research Presentation: Nadia carlesso, M.D. Ph.D.
Director, Student Researech Program in Academic Medicine
Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center and the Herman B Wells Center for Pediatric Research
Dr. Carlesso is currently funded by the National Institute of Health to study how environmental extracellular cues determine cellular fate decisions. Specifically, Dr. Carlesso is interested in how the Notch signaling pathway controls hematopoietic decisions, including development and differentiation. Dysregulation of Notch signaling can cause hematological malignancies such as leukemia. Dr. Carlesso uses a number of modern and state-of-the-art methodologies, and her laboratory presently consists of eight members spanning the undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral levels. Dr. Carlesso is also the director of a graduate program at Indiana University, and will be available during the meeting to discuss with students about the graduate programs at her institution.
Saturday's
Industry Presentation: Kevin Soiseth, MS MBA The role of QC/QA in the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industry and career options in clinical research.
Kevin has worked with several multinational pharmaceutical corporations as well as start-up and mid-sized companies. Kevin has developed, staffed, and lead operational groups domestically, as well as in the Asia/Pacific and Latin American regions. He has participated in due diligence activities associated with facility acquisitions and corporate mergers world-wide including the integration and consolidation of country operations. Kevin hasfacilitated the return of products to market as well as contributed to the approval and launch of several products including a billion dollar blockbuster. Kevin is known as a highly experienced quality and compliance professional with practical business knowledge and a talent for balancing long range vision with attention to detail.
Saturday's
Lunch Presentation: Kevin Wickman PhD Dr Wickman's research interset include neurotransmitters, hormones and drugs elicit complex responses at the cellular level by modulating the function of a variety of enzymes and ion channels. One goal of my laboratory is to dissect the relative contributions of individual enzymes and ion channels to these complex responses. Currently, we are using techniques in molecular genetics, behavioral research, electrophysiology, biochemistry, and cellular biology to understand how one class of potassium-selective ion channel contributes to a variety of important physiological responses and behaviors. Previously, we have demonstrated that these potassium channels, termed G protein-gated potassium (KG) channels, are required for the regulation of heart rate by the parasympathetic nervous system. Currently, we are determining the extent to which KG channels contribute to learning and memory processes, locomotor activity, pain perception, opiate-mediated analgesia, and addiction to drugs such as cocaine and heroin. A better understanding of the role of KG channels in these processes may perhaps lead to the development of more selective analgesics or therapeutic agents for treatment of addiction.
Saturday Breakout Session for Faculty and Students - Dr. Chris Kvaal, St. Cloud State University:
A Free Web-based Course Management and Instructional Tool for Bioinformatics
One of the barriers to incorporation of bioinformatics into undergraduate education is the rapid pace of change. Public databases, websites, genome references, and technology change so rapidly a textbook is out of date before it is published.
In an effort to break down this barrier and expose undergraduates to research problems, Integrated Microbial Genomes Annotation Collaboration Tool (IMG-ACT) was designed at the Joint Genome Institute. IMG-ACT is a course management system (ACT) wrapped around a world-class genome database (IMG). Within IMG-ACT an instructor can 1) choose to adopt a complete genome for a class to annotate, 2) assign random genes to a class to annotate, 3) assign metabolic pathways for a class to annotate, 4) compare environments with metagenomic databases, or 5) assign every student in a class the same gene to work through the annotation process. IMG-ACT has been designed for use at all levels of undergraduate education, from General Biology to Genetics to Microbiology to Biochemistry to Independent Research.
In the process of completing a gene annotation students of all levels of undergraduate biology education can participate in an authentic research experience. This seminar will introduce IMG-ACT, describe its history, design, current usage, and go through live annotation examples.
The Joint Genome Institute’s Integrated Microbial Genome Database currently hosts 6,891 genomes.
Citation: Ditty JL, Kvaal CA, Goodner B, Freyermuth SK, Bailey C, et al. (2010) Incorporating Genomics and Bioinformatics across the Life Sciences Curriculum. PLoS Biol 8(8): e1000448. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000448
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