Attention all teachers: There are still open spots for BioBuilder’s three-day professional development workshops this summer! Tuition scholarships are available. See the BioBuilder Professional Development website for more info.
A new publication from Jessica Stark (Mike Jewett‘s lab at Northwestern Univ.) describes the use of cell-free synthetic biology in easy-to-use educational kits for teaching CRISPR and antibiotic resistance to high schools students. Check out the paper in ACS Synthetic Biology.
While we are disappointed that we have been forced to cancel our annual meeting in Houston, we would like to take advantage of the blocked time on your calendar by conducting a number of activities, including our Working Group meetings, in a virtual format. These meetings will be held consecutively to facilitate participation by any members that care to join. We encourage any and all of you to listen in to those working groups that may be of interest to you. This is a great opportunity to get involved with what we’re doing. Below is full list of EBRC activities including:
Here are the schedule and registration links for the Working Group meetings and SPA workshop:
Thursday, April 2nd
Friday, April 3rd
Please use the links to register for the meeting or meetings you intend to attend. A calendar invite containing an agenda and ZOOM information for each event will follow shortly.
SPA Workshop/Panel:
How to Apply for a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program Grant
Are you a graduate student or postdoc interested in entrepreneurship or looking to commercialize your research? Join the SPA for a panel on the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, a federal program that provides funding for startups and small businesses to engage in innovative research and development with commercialization potential. Our panel features Dr. Erik Pierstorff (SBIR/STTR Program Director at the National Science Foundation), Dr. Rachel Jordan (Research Scientist at Lynntech, Inc.), and Dr. Michael Heffernan (Principal at Fannin Innovation Studio).
Weekly Seminar Series:
In order to supplement the departmental seminars that have been cancelled in recent days, the EBRC will be holding a Weekly Seminar Series. We will be reaching out to the speakers we had scheduled for the annual meeting to begin building the program. But please feel free to connect me with colleagues interested in speaking to us, EBRC members or not. The times will be Tuesdays at 11:00 AM (PDT) one week, and Wednesdays at 1:00 PM (PDT) the following week, alternating for the duration of the program. This alternating schedule will allow the majority of members to attend at least every other week, despite class schedules. A schedule of dates and speakers will be published on ebrc.org prior to the virtual meetings.
EBRC Ethic Statement:
The EBRC Security Working Group has been developing an Ethics statement for the Consortium. The statement as well as background and framing information will be distributed on Friday March 20, 2020. We request that the other Working Groups dedicate some portion of their time to reviewing and commenting on this statement. The Security Working Group will address comments and work with Working Group Chairs and interested parties to produce a “final” version to be socialized with the whole of the membership prior to publication on the website. We look forward to your input and comments.
Virtual Poster Session:
In lieu of a poster session at the Annual Meeting, we are organizing a virtual “poster hall” that will be available from March 31 through April 3. Presenters will be asked to send a poster PDF or 4-5 PowerPoint slides to helix@ebrc.org by 11:59 PM PDT on March 29. Alternative media formats (e.g., a 5-min Zoom presentation or Prezi presentation) are welcome as supplements. On March 31, links to view posters on Google Drive will be provided to those who register for the poster session. By managing permission settings for viewing the posters, we aim to limit dissemination beyond those associated with our meeting. However, we recognize that some may not feel comfortable with unpublished work being available online, even to a restricted group. If that is the case, presenters should focus their posters on previously published data.
On Thursday April 2 after the working group meetings, we will host a live poster session using Zoom. Presenters will be divided into small groups (3-4 people) and assigned to a Zoom discussion room. Attendees will be able to enter rooms to speak with poster presenters.
General instructions about the ZOOM platform will be distributed shortly. Specifics on the working group sessions will be sent out by the chairs of those groups prior to the meeting. We look forward to your participation in moving forward the goals of our field.
UC Berkeley and the Engineering Biology Research Consortium (EBRC) are seeking postdoctoral scholars interested in science policy. Learn more and apply today.
A group of over 15 biofoundries from around the world came together in in Kobe, Japan to launch the Global Biofoundry Alliance. Read more about it in Nature Communications.
Current: Associate Professor and Director of Life Science, Department of Chemistry and Life Science, West Point, NY
2007-2012 Faculty, Department of Chemistry and Life Science, West Point, NY
2004-2007 Postdoctoral Associate, Laboratory of Molecular Neuro-oncology, Rockefeller University, NY
1999-2004 Graduate Student, Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, CT
1992-1999 Army Officer, pilot, staff officer, ROTC instructor, AL, AZ, GA, and PR.
1988-1992 Cadet, West Point, NY