INBRE short course open to undergraduates from College of the Atlantic and other Maine colleges. This is a hands-on laboratory course in molecular genetics, focusing on genomic DNA isolation, genomic library construction and amplification of molecular markers by polymerase chain reaction. Participants in the course will be introduced to a variety of molecular techniques that can be used to investigate population genetics of animal species. In particular, we plan to have students apply newly learned techniques to marine species, with an emphasis on shark and skate species.

35th Maine Biological and Medical Sciences Symposium
Dates:April 25-26, 2008
Location: MDI Biological Laboratory Conference Center
Sponsors: Maine IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (Maine INBRE), MDI Biological Laboratory, and The Jackson Laboratory

The 35th Maine Biological and Biomedical Sciences Symposium will be held April 25-26, 2008 in the Maren Auditorium and Dahlgren Hall Conference Center at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory in Salisbury Cove, Maine. The Maine Biological and Medical Sciences Symposium (MBMSS) is a state-wide gathering of researchers and students—an opportunity to share research results, exchange ideas, promote collaboration, and network with Maine scientists in a variety of disciplines. Invited and selected speakers will present short research reports, followed by question/answer and open discussion. A poster session and a special networking session for Maine junior faculty will also be held.

All Maine researchers, science faculty, graduate, undergraduate and high school students are cordially invited to attend.

Experimental Biology
Dates: May 5-16, 2008
Organizers/Faculty: Dr. Pamela Baker, Bates College
Sponsors: Maine IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (Maine INBRE)

INBRE short course open to undergraduates from Bates College. This course introduces beginning biology and non-biology majors to how scientific knowledge is produced by designing and carrying out lab and field research projects. Working in groups, students learn the fundamentals of data collection, interpretation, and presentation. Through discussions and attendance at formal scientific seminars, students also consider the nature and social value of the scientific process. The course will spend two weeks at Bates making use of the Imaging and Computing Center, then two weeks at MDIBL, where work will include DNA sequencing and confocal microscopy. In the final week, the course returns to Bates where students learn to prepare and present their findings in a poster session.

Community Ecology of Coastal Maine
Dates: May 19-30, 2008
Organizers/Faculty: Dr. Martin Connaughton, Washington College

Open to students at Washinton College. The course will focus on the communities (groups of interacting plant and animal species in a given area) of coastal Maine, as represented by the communities within Acadia National Park and Mount Desert Island, Maine. The course will begin with the geological history of Mount Desert Island and a consideratioin of the oceanographic features of the surrounding waters that, in conjunction with geology and climate, have lead to the wide diversity of communities found in the region. The students will visit and characterize (through species identification) many of the diverse forest, freshwater, and marine communities represented on the island. We will also consider how variations in abiotic factors, such as soil type, ground slope, and exposure to wind, moisture, and salt can shape communities.

Structure and Function of Polarized Epithelial Cells
Dates: University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine--May 24-31, 2008
Yale University School of Medicine--June 7-14, 2008
Course Directors: Yale University School of Medicine, Dr. John N. Forrest, Jr.; University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Dr. Ray Frizzell

Intensive one-week course in biomecial research protocols and techniques is open to first-year medical students from Yale University School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Four biomedical research topics are the focus of each course: 1) physiological studies of chloride transport in an intact epithelial organ from Squalus acanthias; 2) ion channel gene expression in a heterologous expression system (Xenopus oocytes); 3) studies in isolated tubule preparations, including immunocytochemistry of phosphorylated vs. non-phosphorylated co-transporters, tissue processing, confocal microscopy, Western blots, and antibody design; molecular biology of membrane proteins and transporters in shark salt gland, including methods in RNA, cDNA, PCR, cloning, and sequencing.

10th Annual Course in Quantitative Fluorescent Microscopy
Dates: May 31 - June 7, 2008
Faculty: Dr. Simon Watkins, Course Director, Univ. of Pittsburgh School of Medicine; Dr. David Piston, Vanderbilt University
Sponsors: MDIBL, Support from various microscopy/imaging companies (listed here)

This one week, intensive microscopy course will cover all aspects of the technology from the principals of fluorescence imaging to multidimensional imaging in living cells. Lectures dealing with the theory, mechanics, and application of fluorescent imaging methods will be intermingled with extended laboratory practicals in which students will be encouraged to use their own specimens, to optimize the utility of the course. Our goal will be to provide students with the knowledge and expertise to implement cutting edge microscopic methods within their own laboratories. Registration deadline is April 1, 2008. Early registration is recommended--enrollment is limited to 30 students

15th Annual Environmental Health Sciences Symposium
Dates: July 9-10, 2008
Organizer: Dr. Ned Ballatori, University of Rochester
Sponsors: NIEHS Center for Membrane Toxicity Studies at MDIBL; Yale University Liver Center; Kinter Memorial Lectureship Fund

"Comparative toxicogenomic strategies for unraveling mechanisms of environmentally-related diseases"

Program information and registration to be posted.

Mount Desert Island Stem Cell Symposium: Epigenetic Regulation of Stem Cells
Dates: August 8-9, 2008
Organizers: Dr. David Barnes, MDIBL; Dr. John N. Forrest, Jr., MDIBL; Dr. Barbara Knowles, The Jackson Laboratory; Dr. Edward Benz, Dana Farber Cancer Inst. and MDIBL; Dr. Paul Collodi, Purdue University; Dr. Jonathan Epstein, U Pennsylvania SOM; Dr. John Macauley, TJL; Rajesh Rao, Yale Univ. SOM; Dr. Leonard Zon, HHMI and Harvard School of Medicine.
Sponsors: NIDDK/NIH

A joint symposium of MDIBL and The Jackson Laboratory.  This meeting will bring together some of the leading experts on epigenetics and stem cell regulation and will provide a forum for the efficient exchange of new ideas and directions.

Health and Colony Management of Laboratory Fish
Dates: August 25 - 29, 2008 [changed from week of September 22]
Faculty: Dr. Paul Bowser, Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine; Dr. Mike Kent and Dr. Jan Spitzbergen, Center for Fish Disease Research, Oregon State University.
Sponsors: NIEHS Center for Comparative Toxicology at MDIBL

A short course for principal investigators, technicians, or core managers who utilize or plan to utilize fish models in laboratory research. Topics covered include:

Fish Disease: identification, treatment & management
General training: anatomy, histology and necropsy techniques
Core management: water quality, facility considerations
Species covered: Zebrafish, Fundulus, Medaka, Elasmobranchs

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Course in Comparative Physiology
Dates: September 6-12, 2008
Course Directors : Dr. William C. Aird, Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center/Harvard Medical School; Dr. Mark L. Zeidel, Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center/Harvard Medical School
Sponsors: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center / Harvard Medical School

This one week intensive course for junior medical residents at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is designed to engender an understanding of, and appreciation for major physiological mechanisms. The course will provide residents will an opportunity to conduct hands-on research using invertebrates and fish. Working in teams, they will generate, interpret and present data relevant to the hematologic and cardiovascular systems, as well as water homeostasis and salt secretion. Using a comparative approach, participants will gain an understanding of fundamental physiological processes that are common to humans.

National Renal Fellows Couse : Origins of Renal Physiology
Dates: September 14-20, 2008
Course Directors : Dr. Mark L. Zeidel, Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center/Harvard Medical School; Dr. Vikas Sukhatme, Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center/Harvard Medical School; Dr. John N. Forrest, Jr., Yale University School of Medicine and MDIBL; and, Dr. Joseph Bonventre, Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School
Endorsed by the American Society of Nephrology

A one-week national course open to renal fellows. Classical physiological experiments will be coupled to modern mechanistic studies:

• Water Homeostasis
  
• Collecting Duct Sodium Transport
  
• Distal Nephron Acid Secretion
  
• Glomerular Filtration
  
• Salt Secretion and Salt Balance
  
• Proximal Tubule Function