Seminars

Where:

BIOMED 300

When:

Friday, January 19th @ 4:00 – 5:00pm

Where:

PSB 240

When:

Tuesday, January 16th @ 12:00pm

Speaker Links:

Biomerieux

Giselle’s ResearchGate Profile

Diana’s LinkedIn Profile

Where:

Biomed200

When:

11:40am – 1:15pm (PST)

Speaker Links:

https://brookslab.soe.ucsc.edu/

Where:

Biomed200

When:

11:40am – 1:15pm (PST)

Student presentations will be 8 minutes each, with 2 minutes allotted for Q+A.

Where:

Biomed200

When:

11:40am – 1:15pm (PST)

Where:

Biomed200

When:

11:40am – 1:15pm (PST)

Speaker Links:

HOME

Home

Where:

Natural Sciences Annex 101

When:

12:00pm – 1:05pm (PST)

Speaker Links:

Chen lab Website

Topic

The Chen Lab explores the expanding universe of small RNAs (e.g., tsRNAs, rsRNAs) (Nat Cell Biol 2022) with new tools including SPORTS (GPB 2018), LC-MS/MS (Science 2016), PANDORA-seq (Nat Cell Biol 2021) & MLC-seq (PrePrint 2021); decoding the ‘RNA code’ (RNA expression & modification profiles) in regard to functional principles & diseases associations (TIBS 2021, JBC 2023) and explore how the sperm RNA code influence embryo development such as by regulating cell fate decision (Development 2015; Nat Commun 2018; Cell 2018) that contribute to offspring health.

Where:

Biomed200

When:

11:40am – 1:15pm (PST)

Speaker Links:

Home Page

https://vincerx.com/

Where:

Nat Sci Annex 101

When:

12:00pm – 1:05pm (PST)

Speaker:

Giulia Gurun, UC Santa Cruz, Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Department

Title:

On becoming a teaching professor and community

Where:

Biomed200

When:

11:40am – 1:15pm (PST)

Speaker Links:

https://sites.google.com/ucsc.edu/cortezlab

Where:

PSB240

When:

12:00pm – 1:00pm (PST)

Speaker Name:

Elisha Wood-Charlson; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Title:

Levering open science infrastructure to democratize microbiome research and education

Flyer:

Where:

Biomed300

When:

4:00pm – 5:00pm (PST)

Speaker Name:

Shruti Marathe; Laboratory of Neural Circuits and Behaviour at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research

Title:

The Role of synaptic inhibition in multimodal learning of pheromone locations

Flyer:

Professional Development Seminars

The UCSC Graduate Studies Division has identified nine categories of Professional Skills to help you gain the knowledge, skills, and abilities to equip you for success in graduate school and beyond. These seminars are open to both Graduate Students and Postdocs, enabling IRACDA, CIRM, and T32 Trainees to take advantage of these events in an IDP driven manner.

Overarching Topics

• Career Exploration & Preparation
• Entrepreneurship
• Leadership and Management
• Personal Development & Well-Being
• Professional Ethics
• Research and Data Analysis
• Teaching and Mentorship
• Writing and Communication

Learn more and Register for Upcoming Seminars

MCD Seminar Series

Where:

Nat Sci Annex 101

When:

12:00pm – 1:05pm (PST)

Speaker:

Erica Hutchins, UC San Francisco, Department of Cell & Tissue Biology

Title:

Should I stay or should I go? How RNA regulation drives neural crest development

Host:

Joshua Arribere

RNA Club

Where:

Sinsheimer 123

When:

4:00pm – 5:00pm (PST)

Zoom Link:

Join Zoom Meeting on 10/12/23

Sponsored by:

Center for Molecular Biology of RNA

Where:

Biomed200

When:

11:40am – 1:15pm (PST)

Speaker Links:

http://lowelab.ucsc.edu/

https://jonssonlab.com/

Where:

Biomed200

When:

11:40am – 1:15pm (PST)

Speaker Links:

https://dubois.soe.ucsc.edu/

Where:

Remote (Zoom)

When:

12:00 PM (PST)

Title:

NIH Loan Repayment Programs Technical Assistance Webinar

Summary:

We are excited to announce that the NIH is accepting applications for the Extramural LRP until November 16, 2023. By applying for this two-year LRP award, you have the opportunity to get up to $100,000 of your qualified educational loan debt repaid by the NIH.

To help you learn more about this incredible program, we invite you to join us for the LRP Technical Assistance Webinar on October 2, 2023 (click the link to register). This webinar will provide valuable information on the LRP application process, our eligibility requirements, and the numerous benefits of receiving an LRP award.

If you are unable to attend the webinar, don’t worry! You can still register for the webinar, so that you will receive a link to view a recording at a later time. You can also visit the LRP website and watch our informative overview video.

The deadline to submit an Extramural LRP application this year is November 16, 2023.

Where:

Biomed 300

When:

2:00 PM (PST)

Title:

Intestinal Stem Cell Orchestration of Tumor Microenvironments in Colorectal Cancer

Summary:

Dr. Marian Waterman from UCI will be joining us for a special seminar on Thursday, September 28th at 2pm in Biomed 300. Dr. Waterman’s lab has discovered the complex regulation of Wnt signaling, specifically focussing on the LEF/TCF family of transcription factors in intestinal stem cells and colon cancer.

Location

Biomed 300

Time

4:00 – 5:00 PM (PST)

Guest Speakers:

Yufei Si; Feldheim Lab, UCSC

“Is sensory experience required for spatial map alignment and sensory integration?”

Pingping Zhao; Golshani Lab, UCSC

“Accelerated social representational drift in the nucleus accumbens in autism”

Zoom option available here.

Location

Sinsheimer 123

Time

4:00 – 5:00 PM (PST)

Guest Speakers:

Lyna Kabbani; Sanford Lab, UCSC

“The role of IGF2BP3 in RISC target site selection during acute MLL B-lymphoblastic leukemia”

Chloe Wohlenberg; Arribere Lab, UCSC

An unexpected connection: exploring how a polyamide transporter impacts mRNA decay”

Location

Biomed 300
Link to UCSC Campus Map Location

Time

12:00 – 1:00 PM (PST)

Guest Speakers:

Josie Bleeker, Master’s Defense, Wang Lab

Location

Biomed 300
Link to UCSC Campus Map Location

Time

12:00 – 1:00 PM (PST)

Guest Speakers:

Dr. Susana López, Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)

“Outsmarting the Host: Unveiling Rotavirus’ Evasive Tactics against Antiviral Responses”

Dr. Carlos F. Arias, Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)

“Human astrovirus: Neutralization antigenic domains”

Location

Nat Sci Annex 101
Link to UCSC Campus Map Location

Time

12:00 – 1:05 PM (PST)

Guest Speakers:

Dimitry Krementsov, University of Vermont, Department of Biomedical and Health Sciences

Location

E2 180, Baskin Engineering
Link to UCSC Campus Map Location

Time

11:45am – 1:15pm (PST)

Guest Speakers:

DR. ALLIE GRAHAM, University of Utah

DR. GAGE MORENO, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard

DR. JULIA MARIA ROGERS, Harvard Medical School

DR. EDWIN SOLARES, UC Davis

Location

University Center

Time

Thursday April 27, 2023 | 5:45 – 7:30 pm

Speaker:

Jody Greene

Jody Greene came to UC Santa Cruz in 1998 and has served as Professor of Literature, Feminist Studies, and the History of Consciousness. Their research interests include seventeenth- and eighteenth-century British literature; non-dualist Western philosophy, especially the work of Spivak, Derrida, and Nancy; human rights and international law; queer studies; and the history of literary discourse and literary institutions.

Recent publications include a collection, co-edited with Sharif Youssef, The Hostile Takeover: Human Rights after Corporate Personhood (Toronto, 2020), and op-eds in publications such as The Chronicle of Higher Education and Inside Higher Ed. They are the recipient of the UCSC Humanities Division John Dizikes Teaching Award (2008), the Disability Resource Center Champion of Change Award (2018), and, twice, of the UCSC Academic Senate Excellence in Teaching Award (2001, 2014). In 2016, they were appointed the founding Director of the Center for Innovations in Teaching and Learning (CITL), and they now serve as UCSC’s first Associate Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning. In 2021, they were appointed Special Advisor to the CP/EVC for Educational Equity and Academic Success.

Title:

Liberation Pedagogy: bell hooks and Teaching/Learning as Emancipatory Practice

Summary:

UC Santa Cruz’s Center for Innovations in Teaching and Learning (CITL) invites you to our 2023 Convocation featuring CITL’s Founding Director Jody Greene. From its foundation, CITL has drawn inspiration and wisdom from the work of the late bell hooks, educational visionary and early proponent of active and activist learning. According to hooks, our practices of teaching and learning can and should be as transformative and revolutionary as what we teach. More than three decades ago, not long after she finished her graduate work on this campus, hooks offered us a roadmap to transform educational practice to be equitable, student-centered, relationship-rich, and dynamically engaged. In this talk, Jody will revisit hooks’ influence on recent efforts to reshape teaching and learning at UC Santa Cruz as it takes up the challenge of being a genuinely minority-serving institution.

As CITL comes to the close of its seventh year, we are marking the end of the first phase of our development. This Spring, CITL will be merging with Online Education to create a single, integrated Teaching and Learning Center. In June, Founding Director Jody Greene will be stepping down to make way for new leadership for the Center in the next phase of its evolution.

Please RSVP by April 18th

In-person Registration Virtual Registration

Location

Biomed200 (Map of Building Location)

Time

12:00pm – 1:00pm (PST)

Guest Speakers:

Winston Timp, Ph.D. | Associate Professor | Johns Hopkins University

Location

Biomed300 (Map of Building Location)

Time

4:00pm – 5:30pm (PST)

Guest Speakers:

Shaorong Ma, Ph.D.; Zuo Lab, UCSC

Brian Mullen, Ph.D.; Feldheim Lab, UCSC

Part 1: Perspectives from EDI Leaders and Professional Level Researchers in EDI Programs

March 28th, 2023 | 12:00 p.m. EDT

Attendees will hear from EDI Leaders and Professional Level Researchers highlighting details of programs that have allowed them to engage students in research. From this, we will understand the success of different programs offered to ensure students with diverse backgrounds are supported, mentored, and offered guidance in further pursuit of research opportunities.

Learn more and register for the webinar series.

Location:

Date and Time:

Location:

Date and Time:

Where:

Online – Please register in advance here

When: March 9th, March 16th, and March 23rd

Join Front Line Genomics us for their latest webinar series Advanced Research Models, where they will explore the potential of 3D tissue cultures and their applications in biomedical research.Each webinar will include live Q&A with the speakers.

Please note, by registering for webinar one, you will automatically receive access to the subsequent webinars in the series.

Topics include:

1. Patient-derived organoids in functional genomics
2. Accelerating Alzheimer’s drug discovery using mechanism-based 3D human cellular models
3. 3D+time microscopy of organoids: challenges and solutions
4. An Engineered Multicellular Stem Cell Niche for Studying Disease, Aging, and Regeneration
5. Organ-On-A-Chip and Cerebral Organoids
6. Organ-on-a-chip to study the crosstalk between organotypic primary human 3D tissues
7. In vitro modelling of rare mitochondrial and peroxisomal diseases

Location:

Date and Time:

Speakers:

1. Dr. Claudia Katharina Petritsch, Ph.D.; Associate research professor, Neurosurgery Dept. Stanford University
2. Quinton Brail; Ph.D. candidate, Salama Lab, UCSC

Zoom Details

Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 916 5949 5016
Passcode: cancer23

Reception:

Lecture:

Location: 3175 Bowers Avenue, Santa Clara, 95054

Please register for this event in advance.

Genomic scientist Karen Miga, assistant professor of biomolecular engineering at UC Santa Cruz, was named one of the 100 most influential people of 2022 by TIME magazine for her work co-leading an international team of scientists known as the Telomere-to-Telomere (T2T) Consortium to complete the first gapless sequence of a human genome.

Please join us for this fascinating and important lecture, “Rebooting the Human Genome: New Variant Discovery in the Era of Complete Genomes,” about the need to create a more sophisticated and complete human reference genome that better represents global genomic diversity.

Where: PSB 240

When: March 6th, 2023 | 4:00 p.m. PDT

Zoom Link
Meeting ID: 997 2011 0609
Passcode: 126346

Type III interferons are an important class of cytokines that have antiviral and anti-proliferative properties. They bind to shared receptors– IFNλR1 and IL10Rβ – that are co-expressed at barrier tissues, like the lungs and liver, making them attractive, naturally targeted therapeutic candidates. Interestingly, they have evolved to use the same intracellular signaling pathway as type I IFNs but do so with a much weaker response contributing to their limited success in the clinic. The Mendoza lab is interested in understanding how the two families differentially engage each of the intracellular components to guide future efforts in drug development relevant to lung and liver viral infections and cancer.

Speakers:

1. Ines Erkizia-Santamaria; Neuropsychopharmacology Research Group; University of the Basque Country
2. Ravi Nath, Ph.D; Brunet Lab; Stanford University

Topics:

1. Serotonin 2A, 2C, and 1A receptor involvement in the acute effects of psilocybin (Ines)
2. A genetic screen of brain-derived peptides identifies neuromedin U as a regulator of aging via the neuro-immune axis (Ravi)

Monday March 6, 2023 | 4:00 – 5:30pm (PDT)

February 28th, 2023 | 12:00 p.m. PDT | PSB-240

Speaker:

Dr. Lori Burrow; Dept. of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences; McMaster University

Professor Lori Burrows is a microbiologist whose research interests include ubiquitous bacterial adhesins called type IV pili (T4P), biofilm formation, antibiotic resistance, and bacteriophages. Her lab’s work is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Glycomics Network, the Ontario Research Fund, and industrial support.

Topic:

“Pumping iron: exploitation of nutrient transporters by antibiotics.”

Speaker:

Dr. Steven Henikoff, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center

Title:

“Genome-wide mapping of protein-DNA interaction dynamics”

Seminar Details:

Please be sure to register in advance to attend this webinar.

Speaker:

Nick Forino, Ph.D. candidate; Stone Lab; MSC Biology UCSC

Title:

“It’s an RNA World”

Seminar Details:

Speaker:

Patrick Allard, Ph.D.

Title:

“Dissecting the epigenetic machinery underlying the memory of chemical exposure”

Seminar Details:

Speaker:

Lucas Seninge, PhD Candidate, Biomolecular Engineering & Bioinformatics; Advisor: Joshua Stuart

Title:

"Integrating Prior Biological Knowledge And Machine Learning For Single-Cell Transcriptomics Analysis"

Seminar Details:

Abstract:

Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-Seq) has offered a unique window into studying cellular identity at unprecedented scale and resolution. However, the process of revealing this cellular identity remains challenging. For example, the annotation of each assayed cell with a cell type label indicating its functional identity still relies on manual examination, which is rate-limiting and poses reproducibility issues. Similarly, inferring the activity of gene regulatory pathways specifying cell state relies on methods designed for bulk RNA sequencing data and do not make use of the important amount of data generated by single-cell experiments. Here, I describe my work to combine prior biological knowledge about cellular entities contained in curated databases and machine learning to shed light on the cellular identity of single cells.

Specifically, I developed statistical frameworks for the automated annotation of single-cell transcriptomes with cell type labels by integrating prior cell ontology information and cell type-specific marker gene sets. Then, I developed a method to infer pathway activity in single cells by using recent progress in the field of deep generative modeling as well as prior knowledge from gene annotation databases. I discuss potential future direction to design generative model architectures to approach the more ambitious task of modeling targeted perturbation of pathways or transcription factors to perform in-silico experiments and alter cellular state at the single-cell level. This body of work contributes to the growing literature of methods incorporating prior knowledge about biological systems into complex machine learning frameworks, as well as highlights the challenges met in such integration.

Location: PSB 305 and Zoom
Zoom Link

Passcode: 628845

Speakers:

(1) Ed Monuki, M.D., Ph.D.
(2) Albert La Spada, M.D., Ph.D.

Title:

"Did You Know Your Brain Floats? Molecules, Cells, and Fluids That Create a Healthy Brainyard Pool"

Seminar Details:

About the Speakers:
Ed Monuki - After growing up in Los Angeles, Dr. Monuki received his BS from MIT, then his MD and PhD degrees from UC San Diego. As a PhD student, he worked on developing glial cells with Greg Lemke at the Salk Institute. He then moved to Boston for residency and fellowship training in Anatomic Pathology and Neuropathology. While attending at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Boston Children’s Hospital, he carried out postdoctoral research on the developing forebrain with Chris Walsh at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center before joining UCI in 2001.

Albert La Spada - Dr. La Spada graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Biology in 1986. As a M.D. - Ph.D. student at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, he identified the cause of X-linked spinal & bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA) as an expansion of a trinucleotide repeat in the androgen receptor gene. As the first disorder shown to be caused by an expanded repeat tract, this discovery of a novel type of genetic mutation led to the emergence of a new field of study.

Registration Link

Speaker:

Laura Cook, Binghamton University

Title:

"Mucosal colonization by pathogenic streptococci"

Seminar Details:

Meeting ID: 917 8448 7738
Passcode: 625688
Zoom Link

Location:

Sinsheimer Building, Room 123

Zoom Link:

Click here for Zoom meeting

Speakers:

(1) Michael Lawson, Puglisi Lab, Stanford - “Basis of Speed and Fidelity in Eukaryotic Translation Termination"
(2) Nicole Martinez, Martinez Lab, Stanford - "Uncovering new functions of RNA modifications in mRNA processing”

Location:

Physical Sciences Building, Room 240

Speakers:

(1) Anna Gillespie, Ph.D., Frank lab; UCSF - “A novel approach to modulating hippocampal memory replay”
(2) Max Turner, Ph.D., Clandinin lab; Stanford - “Self motion signals dynamically shape a population code for visual feature detection in Drosophila”

About the Speakers - Anna Gillespie hails from Loren Frank's lab at UCSF, where she is currently finishing up her post-doc work, however we have the distinct pleasure of hosting Anna just before she starts her own lab at University of Washington. She is actively recruiting graduate students, post-docs, and technicians, so please encourage your lab members and students to connect with her if they are interested in any of those positions. Her talk is entitled, "A novel approach to modulating hippocampal memory replay".

Max Turner comes to us from Thomas Clandinin's lab at Stanford University. He will be presenting a talk titled "Self motion signals dynamically shape a population code for visual feature detection in Drosophila" which will feature data primarily from this preprint perhaps with some new data from recent months added in.

Registration Link:

Click here to register for this upcoming Active Motif seminar

Speakers:

(1) Bradley Colquitt, Assistant Professor MCD
"Gene Regulatory Mechanisms of Birdsong Neural Circuit Development"

(2) Albert Li - Jiangbin Ye Lab, Stanford University
"Metabolic and Epigenetic Reprogramming During Breast Cancer Progression"

(3) TBD - UC Davis
Presentation Title TBD

Location:

Biomed200

Speakers:

(1) Yi Zuo, Ph.D., UCSC
(2) Krishnan Padmananbhan, Ph.D.

Abstract:

While the structural changes that human neurons undergo during development are key to understanding neural circuit function, there are currently limited ways to study these dynamic processes. To address this challenge, we developed a novel method for time-lapse in vivo two-photon imaging of GFP-labeled human neural precursor cells (hNPCs) derived from induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) transplanted into the visual cortex of a mouse. By imaging over both short periods (~1 hour) and long intervals (~1 week), we were able to uncover features of hNPC proliferation, migration and growth dynamics across different times scales of development for up to 8 months. In transplants with large numbers of engrafted hNPCs, we observed extensive cell proliferation and migration. Migrating cells tended to travel towards and accumulate around blood vessels, with neurites surrounding and ultimately ensheathing these vessels. By contrast, in transplants with small numbers of engrafted hNPCs, we could identify individual neurites that were tracked for up to 8 months. In these engrafts, we observed extensions and retractions of neurites, often as great as 100s of um within a 24-hour period. Furthermore, neurites tended to form fascicles, with extensions favoring the direction of established neurites, suggesting that cells that extend together, stabilize together. Interestingly, these processes often grew along blood vessels, suggesting that the host vasculature plays a critical role in guiding development, possibly as an energy source to supporting both migration and neurite maturation. Taken together, our data allowed us to track the diversity of developmental programs, including proliferation, migration, and neurite maturation from the hNPC state to putative cortical neurons. Our new method thus provides a platform for modeling both normal human development as well as modeling developmental and psychiatric disorders.

Location:

Nat Sci Annex 101

Zoom Link:

Click here for Zoom meeting

Speakers:

Zhu Wang, Department of MCD Biology, UC Santa Cruz

Location:

Kuumbwa Jazz Center

Speaker

(1) Tahir Amin, LL.B., Dip. LP
(2) Anna Maria Barry-Jester

Registration Link

Please register here

Location:

Nat Sci Annex

Zoom Link:

Click here for Zoom meeting

Speakers:

Joshua Arribere, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of MCD Biology, UC Santa Cruz

Location:

Nat Sci Annex

Zoom Link:

Click here for Zoom meeting

Speakers:

Jeanette Gowen Cook, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair, Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics, UNC School of Medicine
Professor, Department of Pharmacology
Member, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center