2016 Canadian Developmental Biology Conference Report

Surrounded by the breathtaking landscape of the Rocky Mountains, hundreds of graduate students and researchers gathered for the 8^th biennial Canadian Developmental Biology Conference at the Banff Centre, minutes outside of Banff, Alberta. This four-day conference was filled with a variety of stimulating seminars and poster sessions, reflecting some of the latest advances in the field of developmental biology; meanwhile the easy-going conference atmosphere encouraged a number of friendly and thought-provoking discussions between students, post-docs, and scientists from across Canada and abroad.

Researchers from diverse backgrounds presented in the meeting’s five main scientific sessions, incorporating a number of model organism systems and developmental processes.  The first session – stem cells and regeneration – included a talk from Jeff Biernaskie (University of Calgary) on the application of adult dermal stem cells to promote wound-healing after skin grafts, using a mouse xenograft model. The session also included a talk from Rohan Khadilkar (University of British Columbia), who received the award for the best post-doctoral presentation on his research on the Drosophila hematopoietic stem cell niche and the role of septate junctions in moderating HSC differentiation. The second session focused on gene expression and development. Julie Claycomb (University of Toronto) presented on the role of an Argonaute protein, CSR-1, in licensing C. elegans germline gene expression through small RNAs and chromatin modifications. Other talks were Marie Kmita’s (University of Montréal) exploration of a Hoxa11 antisense enhancer to regulate distal limb development, and Alexandra Dallaire’s (Best student talk winner, CHU de Québec Research Centre) discussion of how microRNAs mediate mRNA stability in C. elegans.

Following were sessions on growth, differentiation and patterning – including a talk from Dominique Bergmann (Stanford University) on asymmetric cell division and fate specification in plant stomatal cells – as well as cell proliferation, migration and morphogenesis. The latter, featured, amongst others, a presentation by Vanessa Auld (University of British Columbia) on glia-ECM interactions in Drosophila and their role in protecting the peripheral nervous system. The fifth and final session focused on developmental models of disease. One of the highlights from this session was a talk by Brian Ciruna (Princeton University) on a zebrafish ciliary-defect model of scoliosis.

In addition to the five primary sessions, a major highlight was the keynote lecture and conference education session. Keynote speaker Freda Miller (University of Toronto), gave a captivating presentation on the use of the mouse cerebral cortex to study neurogenesis and the role of translational repression in regulating neuronal cell fates. This lecture was a wonderful way to start the conference and sparked many interesting discussions during the night’s opening reception. Furthermore, all attendees enjoyed an interactive presentation by Scott Barolo (University of Michigan), who demonstrated how the game Mastermind could be used to teach scientific thinking strategies.

On the final evening of the conference, attendees donned their cowboy boots and Western attire and headed over to MountainView Barbeque for a buffet-style meal and lively night of socializing. The barbeque was complete with a huge bonfire and live country music band, and to led hours of cheerful conversation and even some line-dancing.

This year’s conference provided an excellent opportunity for Canadian and international biologists from all career stages to interact and discuss leading findings in developmental biology research. On behalf of all conference attendees, I would like to say a tremendous thank you to the conference organizers, Savraj Grewal, Dave Hansen and Sarah McFarlane (University of Calgary), for putting together an excellent program of speakers and events, including the poster sessions, 60-second science presentations and conference banquet. Also to Paul Mains for organizing the judging of trainee poster presentations, and to the meeting sponsors (CIHR, SDB and many others). Congratulations to all the winners of the poster competition (below) and the Society of Developmental Biology travel and financial awards. Namely, Rohan Khadilkar for the best postdoctoral talk (SDB cash award), and Alexandra Dallaire (SDB travel award) and Anna Kobb (SDB cash award) for the best graduate student talks.

The 9^th Canadian Developmental Biology conference will be held in 2018 in Mont-Tremblant, Québec. Looking forward to seeing you all there!

By: Isabella Skuplik

Student poster award winners: Aarya Chithran, Miranda Hunter, Katharine Goodwin, Rotem Lavy, Enrique Gamero-Estevez, Adam Kramer, Tanya Foley, Corey Arnold, Sonya Widen, Eric Hall, Raghda Gemae, Mriga Das, Victoria Yan, Isabella Skuplik, Bensun Fong, Dova Brenman.

Postdoctoral poster award winners: Matthew Hildebrandt, Pierre Mattar, and Sérgio Simões (SDB cash awards), Guang Yang (SDB travel award).

Travel award winners: Sarah Garner, Siavash Amon, Amanda Baumholtz, Scott De Vito, Adrienne Elbert, Sarah Gignac, Zachary Hall, Adam Kramer, Stephanie Tkachuk, Jessica Yu.

Elk passing through the Banff Centre campus

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