Nicolas Barbera, PhD, (center) is a CPHG postdoc who presented his research at the symposium.
The Center for Public Health Genomics (CPHG) held its fourth annual Emerging Scholars in Genome Sciences Symposium September 21 – 22 in Pinn Hall Conference Center. Dean Melina Kibbe opened the symposium with a welcome address. The keynote address was delivered by Suying Bao, PhD, a computational biologist with the Genetics Center at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. Her talk was titled, “Accelerate Drug Discovery with Human Genetics & Genomics.” Dr. Bao was hand-selected by CPHG’s trainees.
Over the course of the symposium, eight senior postdoctoral fellows from around the country delivered seminars in their specialties:
- Rongbin Zheng, PhD, Boston Children’s Hospital & Harvard Medical School – MEBOCOST: Metabolite-mediated Cell Communication Modeling by Single Cell Transcriptome
- Booker T. Davis, IV, PhD, Northwestern University – Post-injury Administration of Short Chain Fatty Acids Supports Gut Microbial Structure and Attenuates Cognitive Deficits in Severe Traumatic Brain Injury
- Junnan Fang, PhD, Emory University – Isoform Expression and the Post-Transcriptional Regulation of Centrosomal mRNAs
- Pravrutha Raman, PhD, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center – Evolutionary Innovations in Eukaryotic Histone Repertoires Drive Biological Novelties
- Shenglin Mei, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital & Harvard Medical School – Immune and Stroma Cell Remodeling in Tumor Bone Metastasis Cascade
- Alexandra Newman, PhD, New York University – Myocardial Infarction Increases Breast Cancer Metastasis
- Nicolas Barbera, PhD, University of Virginia (CPHG) – Comprehensive Characterization of Coronary Artery Disease-Associated Variants Regulation Expression in Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells
- Leandro Martin Velez, PhD, University of California, Irvine – Gene-By-PCOS Interactions in Cardio-Metabolic Traits on a Panel of Genetically Diverse Strains of Mice
CPHG trainees and faculty hosted two dinners for the speakers as well as a trainee and speaker luncheon to wrap up the event.
The symposium highlights emerging scholars who are senior postdocs doing outstanding research in the broad areas of genetics and genomics selected from labs around the country and the CPHG. The goal of the symposium is to showcase cutting-edge research, provide UVA trainees with the opportunity to interact with and learn from their future peers, and foster relationships between UVA faculty, staff, and students and the next generation of genome scientists. The symposium provides speakers with networking opportunities and experiences that will help them as they enter the job market in the next few years.
The Emerging Scholars in Genome Sciences Symposium is hosted by the Center for Public Health Genomics and sponsored by the Anderson Committee. It is held each September at the Pinn Hall Conference Center Auditorium at the University of Virginia School of Medicine.
Filed Under: Research