WORKSHOPS
28
Saturday, April 6 6:45 PM–8:45 PM
Drosophila As A Model For Drug
Discovery
Room:
Maryland Suite A
Organizers:
Daniela Zarnescu
,
University of Arizona, and
Daniel Marenda
,
Drexel University
Recent successes using Drosophila for drug screening have
brought attention to the fly as an emerging model that holds
great promise for the rapid discovery of high quality
therapeutic leads. Talks from expert speakers will include
success stories of FDA approved or clinical trial ready
therapies initiated in the fly model. Talks will also discuss
screening approaches using various human disease models
ranging from cancer to neurodevelopmental and
neurodegenerative disorders. A summary discussion will
focus on identifying opportunities and challenges associated
with using Drosophila for drug discovery, and strategies for
increasing its visibility with funding agencies and
pharmaceutical companies.
Saturday, April 6 6:45 PM–8:45 PM
Drosophila Research and Pedagogy at
Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUI)
Room:
Maryland Suite C
Organizers:
Justin DiAngelo
,
Hofstra University,
Hempstead, NY, and
Hemlata Mistry
,
Widener University, Chester, PA, and
Jennifer Kennell
,
Vassar College,
Poughkeepsie, NY, and
Scott Ferguson
,
SUNY Fredonia, NY
This workshop focuses on increasing the quality and
visibility of Drosophila research performed at PUIs and
facilitating faculty and students in these endeavors. The
goals include: 1) encouraging undergraduate research by
providing a forum for students to make oral presentations;
2)
connecting people interested in this career path with
current PUI faculty; 3) establishing a network among
current PUI faculty to promote discussion and provide
support on professional issues that differ from those at large
institutions; 4) sharing concepts and techniques that
encourage the integration of Drosophila as a teaching tool in
the classroom and laboratory.
Saturday, April 6 6:45 PM–8:45 PM
Wound Healing and Regeneration
Room:
Delaware
Organizers:
Adrian Halme
,
University of Virginia School
of Medicine, Charlottesville, and
Rachel Smith-Bolton
,
University of Illinois,
Urbana-Champaign
Drosophila is emerging as an important model system for
understanding both wound healing and regeneration of
tissues and organs. The goal for this workshop is to bring
together presentations of recent work from researchers
studying tissue repair in diverse contexts. This workshop
will highlight and encourage discussion of the themes in this
field including, but not limited to: cellular re-specification,
cell biological mechanisms in tissue repair, inflammatory
and innate immune responses to tissue damage,
developmental contexts required for tissue repair, and
comparisons and/or distinctions between tissue repair and
tissue development.
Saturday, April 6 6:45 PM–8:45 PM
A Practical Guide to Understand the
Concept of Bistability: From Models to
Biological Behavior
Room:
Virginia A
Organizer:
Francisco José Pereira Lopes
,
Federal
University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Bistability has long been established in control of the cell
cycle and other oscillations. In Drosophila, spatial
bistability has been proposed for dorso-ventral and more
recently anterior-posterior patterning. We intend to present
this theoretical concept for researchers and students with
background in biology, avoiding unnecessary theoretical
details. The experimental behavior of simple bistable
systems will be described, followed by simple rules to build
comprehensive and realist models exhibiting this behavior.
The importance of the applications of this theoretical
concept to Drosophila research will be discussed as well as
the most recent results found in the literature.
