Maine Biological and Medical Sciences Symposium

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 pre-conference workshop will also be held.

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

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

All Maine scientists, faculty, and students are invited to attend and participate in the Symposium. Any abstract in the biological and medical sciences is welcome. The following topics serve as a general framework into which some talks might be organized and outside speakers chosen:

Neuroscience
Genetics and Genomics
Stem Cells and Developmental Biology
Other research areas as determined by submitted abstracts

In addition to invited speakers, some speakers will be selected from the submitted abstracts. Speakers selected from the abstracts will be a mix of investigators and students. Due to time constraints, we will probably not be able to accomodate everyone who would like to give a platform presentation. We hope that anyone who cannot be fit into the platform sessions will present a poster of their work.

The MBMSS is an excellent forum for young scientists or junior faculty to present and discuss their research. Students who participate in research are specially encouraged to submit an abstract.

Abstract deadline - March 28, 2008 (extended deadline)

POSTER SESSION

The poster session is a highlight of the symposium. It is a wonderful opportunity for one-on-one scientific interaction and networking. All participants, even those giving platform presentations, are encouraged to present their research in the poster session. We expect a large crowd, lively conversation, and refreshments.

Interested poster presenters should sumbit an abstract. A poster guide and instructions are available here. Posters should be no more than 50" wide, and most poster boards are vertical.

The abstract formatting rules for platform/poster presentation are listed below.

PROGRAM

Darcy B. Kelley, Ph.D.

The keynote speaker will be Dr. Darcy B. Kelley, HHMI Professor of Biological Sciences at Columbia University. Dr. Kelley's research focuses on the biological origins of the differences between the sexes; in particular, the physiological, developmental, cellular, molecular and evolutionary mechanisms that underlie the actions of gonadal steroid hormones, androgen and estrogen.

Dr. Kelley is a recipient of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor's Award. Her HHMI project is a Web-based resource that makes educational materials generated in Frontiers of Science (Columbia's interdisciplinary core course in science) freely available and provides a platform for college science teachers to share their own teaching approaches and materials and consult with their colleagues about educational issues.

Dr. Kelley is also editor of the Journal of Neurobiology.

Thursday, April 24
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm	Dinner MDIBL Dining Hall Participants who arrive early and plan to attend dinner should send an email 'reservation' to Mike McKernan .
Friday, April 25
9:00 am - 11:00 am	Pre-symposium meeting - Maine Neurogenetics Consortium Open to all conference participants Maren Auditorium
9:00 am - 12:00 pm	Pre-symposium workshop - in situ hybridization (led by Antonio Planchart, Ph.D., MDIBL) Registration required Karnofsky Laboratory
11:00 am - 1:00 pm	Symposium Registration & Poster Set-up Lobby - MDIBL Conference Center
12:00 pm	Lunch MDIBL Dining Hall
1:00 pm	Symposium welcome and introduction Patricia H. Hand, PhD, Administrative Director, MDIBL
	Session 1: Genetics, Genomics, and DNA Carol Bult, PhD, and Keith Hutchison, PhD, Co-Chairs
1:15 pm	Robert Braun, PhD, Chair of Research, The Jackson Laboratory ANDROGEN REGULATION OF THE BLOOD/TESTIS BARRIER
1:45 pm	Maine New Investigator: Lindsay Shopland, PhD, Assistant Professor, The Jackson Laboratory GENOME 3D ORGANIZATION IN MAMMALIAN NUCLEI
2:15 pm	Priyam Singh, Graduate Student, The Jackson Laboratory CHARACTERIZATION OF ALTERED MRNA PROCESSING IN PROGENITOR B-CELL LYMPHOMA
2:30 pm	Jeremy Charette, Graduate Student, The University of Maine IDENTIFYING A NOVEL TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR RECEPTOR ASSOCIATED FACTOR 2 (TRAF2) AND MYELOID DIFFERENTIATION PRIMARY RESPONSE GENE 88 (MYD88) INTERACTION IN ZEBRAFISH
2:45 pm	Emily Notch, Graduate Student, The University of Maine 17A-ETHINYLESTRADIOL EXPOSURE HINDERS HEPATIC NUCLEOTIDE EXCISION REPAIR IN ZEBRAFISH
3:00 pm	Maine New Investigator: Kevin Rice, PhD, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Colby College THE CONSEQUENCES OF CARBAMOYLATING ACTIVITY FROM ANTICANCER SULFONYLHYDRAZINES ON THE ENZYMES OF DNA BASE EXCISION REPAIR
3:30 pm	Break
4:00 pm	Yanhua Liang, MD, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, The Jackson Laboratory TIME COURSED EXPRESSION STUDIES DEFINE THE PROGRESSIVE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHRONIC PROLIFERATIVE DERMATITIS PHENOTYPE IN MICE
4:15 pm	Yong Woo, Graduate Student, The Jackson Laboratory CROSS-SPECIES, INTEGRATIVE GENOMICS ANALYSIS FOR DETECTING GLOBAL TRANSCRIPTIONAL CHANGES LINKED TO CHROMOSOMAL ABERRATIONS
4:30 pm	Maine New Investigator: William Jackman, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biology, Bowdoin College TRANSGENIC GAIN-OF-FUNCTION ANALYSIS OF FGF SIGNALING IN ZEBRAFISH TOOTH DEVELOPMENT
5:00 pm	David Barnes, PhD, Director, Marine Cell Lines and Stem Cell Program, MDI Biological Laboratory MULTIDRUG RESISTANCE-ASSOCIATED PROTEIN 3 (MRP3/ABCC3/MOAT-D) IS EXPRESSED IN THE SAE SQUALUS ACANTHIAS SHARK EMBRYO-DERIVED MESENCHYMAL STEM CELL LINE
5:15 pm	Brittany Thomas, Undergraduate Student, Colby College IDENTIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF SURFACE ATTACHMENT FACTORS OF VIBRIO RELATED AQUATIC BACTERIA
5:30 pm	Dinner MDIBL Dining Hall
6:30 pm	Poster Session 1 Dahlgren Hall
Saturday, April 26
8:00 am	Continental Breakfast Lobby - MDIBL Conference Center Poster set up - Poster session 2
	Session 2: Neuroscience and Physiology Patsy Dickinson, PhD, and Markus Frederich, PhD, Co-Chairs
9:00 am	Alan Rosenwasser, PhD, Professor of Psychology, The University of Maine CHRONIC ETHANOL INTAKE ALTERS CIRCADIAN PACEMAKER FUNCTION IN C57BL/6J MICE
9:15 am	Michael Brockman, Graduate Student, The Jackson Laboratory POTENTIAL IMPACT OF ALTERNATIVE POLYADENYLATION ON POST-TRANSCRIPTIONAL REGULATION IN NEURONS
9:30 am	Keynote Speaker: Darcy Kelley, PhD, HHMI Professor of Biological Sciences, Columbia University HEARING TO UTTERANCE; THE NEUROBIOLOGY OF VOCAL COMMUNICATION
10:30 am	Break
10:45 am	Escar Kusema, Undergraduate Student, Colby College CELLULAR MECHANISMS OF MELATONIN-INDUCED AND CALMODULIN-INHIBITED NEURITE GROWTH IN UCA PUGILATOR X-ORGAN CELLS
11:00 am	Gregory Sousa, Undergraduate Student, Bates College SATIATING SNAILS: INVESTIGATING THE IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL DISTRIBUTION OF NEUROPEPTIDE Y (NPY)-LIKE MOLECULES IN THE CNS OF THE POND SNAIL HELISOMA TRIVOLVIS AND DETERMINING NPY'S IMPACT ON THE BUCCAL FEEDING CIRCUITRY
11:15 am	Christopher Cashman, INBRE Junior Biomedical Researcher, Bowdoin College CONSERVATION OF MYOSUPPRESSIN ACROSS DECAPOD CRUSTACEANS AND ITS ACTIVITY IN THE AMERICAN LOBSTER, HOMARUS AMERICANUS
11:30 am	Maine New Investigator: Robert Wheeler, PhD, Assistant Professor of Microbiology, The University of Maine PROBING AND PERTURBING THE DYNAMIC FUNGAL-HOST INTERFACE DURING INFECTION
12:00 pm	Lunch MDIBL Dining Hall MBMSS Board Lunch and Meeting MDIBL Dining Hall rear meeting room
1:00 pm	Poster Session 2 Dahlgren Hall
2:30 pm	Erik Pietrowicz, Graduate Student, University of Southern Maine ARSENIC DISRUPTS NEURITE OUTGROWTH AND PROLIFERATION IN PC12 CELLS
2:45 pm	Geoffrey Ganter, PhD, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences, University of New England ECDYSONE MODULATES MULTIPLE BEHAVIORS IN ADULT FRUIT FLIES
3:00 pm	Manasa Gudheti, PhD, Research Scientist, The University of Maine LATERAL ORGANIZATION OF HEMAGGLUTININ IN BIOLOGICAL MEMBRANES DOES NOT CORRELATE WITH THE FLUID PHASE RAFT MODEL
3:15 pm	Closing remarks - Charles Wray, PhD, MDI Biological Laboratory Closing

TRAVEL, PARKING AND HOUSING

Driving Directions: Are available here. MDI Biological Laboratory is located on Old Bar Harbor Road in the village of Salisbury Cove, 04672. Old Bar Harbor Road is a left hand turn approaching from Ellsworth on Rt. 3 (approximately 4 miles from the bridge at the head of Mount Desert Island).

Parking: Early arrivers may park roadside, along Old Bar Harbor Road. Parking is also available in lots adjacent to the conference facilities. Directional signs will indicate where to park.

Housing:

On campus: Limited student housing (free of charge) is available at the MDI Biological Laboratory. Email Mike McKernan (mmckernan@mdibl.org) to make a reservation.

Off campus: A block of hotel rooms is available at The Atlantic Oakes Inn. Please call 288-5801 to make a reservation ($67/night). The rooms are listed under "MDI Biological Lab".

STUDENT FUNDING

The Maine INBRE will cover registration fees, travel, and on-campus housing for undergraduate and graduate students who wish to attend MBMSS. Please inquire with Mike McKernan at MDIBL.

2008 Maine Biological & Medical Sciences Symposium
ABSTRACT SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Format

- Page limit = 1 page
- MS Word, plain text, or PDF file format only.

Style

- Font size: 12, Type Style: Times, Spacing: single spaced copy using paragraph indents, Margins: 1".
- Double space between paragraphs and justify right margin.

Layout

- Title: The title of the abstract should be bolded.
- Abbreviations must not be used in title.
- Name(s)/institution(s): List the author's name(s), institution(s) where the work originated, city, state and country. Indicate the SURNAME of each author followed by his or her INITIALS only.

Please underline attending authors name. Double space after affiliations and before the body text.

Deadlines

Abstract deadline: Saturday, March 28, 2008

Pre-registration deadline: Monday, March 31, 2008

FEES, PRE-REGISTRATION, ABSTRACT SUBMISSION

Registration fee: $40. Includes symposium materials, abstract book, and all meals. You will be invoiced upon pre-registration. Student funding is available (see above).

ONLINE REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED. IF YOU WISH TO ATTEND MBMSS 08, PLEASE SEND EMAIL TO Aimee Picard -- apicard@mdibl.org.

The 2008 Maine Biological and Biomedical Sciences Symposium is organized and supported by the Maine IDeA Network for Biomedical Research Excellence.