2013 Biomedical Postdoc Research Symposium

The Biomedical Postdoctoral Council (BPC) and the Office of Biomedical Postdoctoral Programs (BPP) are pleased to announce:

The 12th Annual Biomedical Postdoctoral Research Symposium
November 4th, 2013
BRB II/III Auditorium and Lobby
421 Curie Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA 19104

The symposium will include:

Poster sessions and oral presentations research talks by BPP postdocs
Awards for the best posters and oral presentations, sponsored by AUM LifeTech
Keynote Lecture: Dr. Bruce Alberts of UCSF, recent past editor-in-chief of Science, former president of the National Academy of Science, and an orignal author of 'Molecular Biology of the Cell'.
A great reception - good food, drinks and a chance to network with presenters and other fellow postdocs.

This FREE event is a great way to practice your presentation skills and to learn about your fellow postdocs’ research. Posters have been very well-attended in past years, and the presenters pleased with the feedback they've received. All post-docs served by the Biomedical Postdoctoral Council (BPC) and Office of Biomedical Postdoctoral Programs (BPP) are welcome to present, and all members of the university community are welcome to attend.

I. Rules and Guidelines for abstract submission

Submit abstracts here. The deadline for submission is September 6, 2013.
Abstract titles should not exceed 120 characters, including spaces.
Please provide affiliation information for all authors, which is not character limited.
Abstract body text may not exceed 1,800 characters, including spaces but not including the title, authors or affiliation information.
Please submit abstract as plain text, unless special characters are required.
If your abstract contains special characters, please complete all required sections on the abstract submission site and upload a Word file containing title, authors, affiliation and abstract text formatted to the style guideline. Only Word files will be accepted. Abstract file names must follow this convention: Lastname_Firstname_YYYYMMDD_PS2013 (eg. Doe_Jane_20130815_PS2013).

Example abstract:

Genomics of systems neuroscience enabled: TIVA-tag mediated isolation of mRNA from single cells in their natural environment

Ditte Lovatt (1,2), Brittani Ruble (3), Jaehee Lee (1,2), Peter Buckley (1,2), Hannah Dueck (2,4), Julia Richards (3), Junhyong Kim (2,4), Jai-Yoon Sul (1,2), Ivan Dmochowski (2,3), and James Eberwine (1,2)

(1) Department of Pharmacology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania; (2) PENN Genome Frontiers Institute, University of Pennsylvania; (3) Department of Chemistry, and (4) Department of Biology, School of Arts & Sciences, University of Pennsylvania

Transcriptome profiling is an indispensable tool in advancing biomedical research, but depends upon methods capable of isolating mRNA. While it is a trivial procedure to isolate mRNA from bulk tissue or cultures, isolation of mRNA from single cells in intact tissue remains a technical obstacle. This is due to the cellular complexity present in most tissues, and hence, the difficulty of dissecting single cells free of contamination from neighboring cellular parts. Consequently, single cell transcriptomics from complex tissues is largely unexplored. Here, we engineered a multifunctional chemical compound that we call Transcriptome In Vivo Analysis (TIVA) -tags, which allows mRNA isolation by imaging-assisted selective photoactivation of single cells in live tissue. TIVA-tags comprise an mRNA-binding property and can unidirectionally enter live cells in tissues. The mRNA-binding property of TIVA can be uncaged upon laser-derived photoactivation directed at a single cell. Following uncaging, the TIVA-tag anneals to mRNA inside the cell, and TIVA:mRNA hybrids can be isolated through affinity-purification. The purified mRNA can then be processed for transcriptome analysis. Using the TIVA approach to perform transcriptome analysis of single hippocampal neurons revealed enrichment of the neuronal markers Mtap2 and Snap25, but showed no enrichment of glial and vascular markers. These results confirmed the single cell specificity of the TIVA approach. TIVA-tags provide a novel approach to single cell mRNA isolation for RNA-seq transcriptome analysis, and enable the combination of single cell transcriptomics with other physiological, chemical and micro-environmental signatures of single cells.

II. Information for Poster Sessions

The Biomedical community encompasses a huge variety of fields and expertise. All information should be presented so that a life scientist from any of these backgrounds can understand your research. Please go heavy on the background and explanations of key ideas. If your poster is already printed, emphasize these aspects when discussing your work.
All poster boards will be set up in the lobby of BRBII/III and will be limited to 4 ft x 4 ft. Pushpins will be provided.
At the top of each poster board, there will be a number. Please match your abstract number to the number on the poster board
Poster presentations will be judged by faculty and postdoc judges for clarity, visual impact and oral presentation.

III. Information for Oral Sessions

All information should be presented so that life scientists from a wide range of backgrounds can understand your background, goals and findings.
A moderator will be present in each room to handle any questions and help organize that session.
There will 10 min allocated for each talk, followed by 5 min for questions. Time limits for each talk will be strictly enforced to make sure that the program stays on schedule. A warning buzzer will sound after 10 min and the final buzzer at 12 min.
You must check in at the BRB Auditorium at least 20 minutes before your session is scheduled to begin to allow the moderator to load and check your presentation on the A/V equipment.
Please bring your presentation on a USB drive for easy loading onto the A/V equipment, which accommodates PC- and Mac-based presentations.
A laser pointer and a laptop on the podium will be provided. If you require any other equipment, please inform us as soon as possible.
Your mentor, labmates, and anyone else who would like to support you are welcome and encouraged to attend!

IV. Awards

Prizes will be awarded for the best oral and poster presentations. Judges’ decisions are final and binding. Awards will be presented at the end of the symposium following the Keynote Lecture.

V. Contact

If you would like to volunteer for the 2013 committee, or if you have any questions regarding abstract submission, general participation or any other issues please contact Adam Walker, the Chair of the BPC Symposium Committee, at bpc.symposium@gmail.com, or the Office of Biomedical Postdoctoral Programs at postdoc@mail.med.upenn.edu or 215-573-4332.