Cell & Developmental Biology celebrates 160 years of science April 23-24

The Department of Cell & Developmental Biology to celebrate those who have contributed to breakthrough discoveries and educational excellence, and those whose talent and dedication are paving the way for to the future.

Thursday, April 23 kicks off with a reception and poster session. Also planned are student talks, a dinner, history of education in the department and a lecture by Manu Prakash about his foldable microscope project “foldscope”. Prakash will also deliver a public lecture earlier in the day.

A mix of history and current science is scheduled for Friday, April 24. The day will feature talks from current students and faculty as well as distinguished invited speakers Drs. Yuh Nung Jan, Dyche Mullins and Shahin Rafii.

Speakers include:

Yuh Nung Jan, Ph.D.
Dr. Jan is the Jack and DeLoris Lange Professor of Molecular Physiology at the University of California, San Francisco and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. Jan’s research centers on the development and function of the nervous system. Current interests include the mechanisms of dendrite development, the function and regulation of potassium channels, and the contribution of dendritic morphogenesis and channel modulation to the assembly and plasticity of functional neuronal circuits.

Dyche Mullins, Ph.D.
Dr. Mullins is a professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at the University of California, San Francisco and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. Dr. Mullins studies the assembly and regulation of cytoskeletal networks—collections of molecules used by living cells to move molecular cargo, establish polarity, and propel themselves forward. Understanding how cells construct their internal molecular “skeletons” is key to understanding a wide variety of biological processes and human diseases.

Manu Prakash, Ph.D.
Dr. Prakash is an assistant professor in the Department of Bioengineering at Stanford University.?Dr. Prakash’s research brings together experimental and theoretical techniques from soft-condensed matter physics, fluid dynamics, theory of computation and unconventional micro and nano-fabrication to open problems in biology– from organismal to cellular and molecular scale

Shahin Rafii, M.D.
Dr. Rafii is a professor of Genetic Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College at Cornell University. Rafii’s laboratory focuses on stem cell biology and angiogenesis and uses in vivo mouse model and mouse and human genetics, tissue culture approaches and molecular biology to model angiognesis, cancer and stem cell metabolic regulation. Genetic, genomic, molecular and cell biological techniques are combined to achieve a systems level understanding of these complex processes.

Thursday, April 23, 2015

2:30-3:30 p.m. Seminar, BSRB Auditorium
Manu Prakash, assistant professor, Bioengineering, Stanford University
Open explorations of the microcosmos

4-6 p.m. Reception, poster session and Silent Auction
6-7 p.m. Dinner (R.S.V.P. only please)
7-9:30 p.m. Evening Program (including Student Talks, Manu Prakash on the “Foldscope”, Department History)

Friday, April 24, 2015

8 a.m. Breakfast
8:30 a.m. Introductions

Session 1
Cell Biology 8:40 – 10:20 a.m. 
Session Chair: Shiv Sivaramakrishan
Retrospective: TBA
Faculty Speaker: Lois Weisman
Invited Speaker: Dyche Mullins
“Frontiers in Mechano-Biochemistry”
Q&A

Coffee Break

Session 2
Developmental Biology 10:50 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. 
Session Chair: Daniel Lucas
Welcome: President Schlissel
Retrospective: Deb Gumucio
Faculty Speaker: Doug Engel
Invited Speaker: Shahin Rafii
“Executive functions of vascular niche in hematopoietic stem cell ”
Q&A

Lunch Break

Session 3
Neuroscience 1:55 p.m. – 3:35 p.m. 
Session Chair: Bing Ye
Retrospective: Peter Hitchcock
Faculty Speaker: Roman Giger
Invited Speaker: Yuh Nung Jan
“Control of dendrite morphogenesis: from form to function to regeneration”
Q&A

Roundtable 4 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Featured Guests: Marschall S. Runge, Yuh Nung Jan, Shahin Rafii, Dyche Mullins
Student Moderator: Andrew Freddo

Website: http://cdb160.org/