Postdoc Research Symposium
The Biomedical Postdoctoral Council (BPC) and the Office of Biomedical Postdoctoral Programs (BPP) are pleased to announce:
The 7th Annual Postdoctoral Research Symposium
October 24, 2008
BRB II/III Auditorium and Lobby
421 Curie Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Abstract Submission Deadline: August 29, 2008
Online Abstract Submission Form
The symposium includes the following events:
- Poster Sessions and Oral Sessions open for participation to all BPP postdocs
- Awards for the best posters and oral presentations
- Keynote Lecture: Robert Sapolsky, Ph.D., John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Departments of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, and of Neurosurgery, Stanford University School of Medicine
This is a great way to practice your presentation skills as well as a FREE educational opportunity for all postdocs organized by the Biomedical Postdoctoral Council (BPC) and Office of Biomedical Postdoctoral Programs (BPP). All accepted abstracts will be published in the Symposium handbook. We look forward to reviewing your abstracts!
Rules and guidelines for abstract submission
Information for Poster Sessions
Information for Oral Sessions
Awards
Keynote Lecture
Contact
I. Rules and Guidelines for abstract submission
Abstract Submission Deadline: August 29, 2008
To submit your abstract please complete the abstract submission form.
Due to space and time limitations, the abstracts will be used to select posters and oral presentations for the symposium. We will also be compiling an abstract book directly from the submissions so please make sure that you adhere to the following guidelines.
- Use only 12-point Times New Roman for the entire submission
- The title should appear on the top line
- Below the title line leave one line space and add the author list. Presenting author should appear first.
- Below the author line leave one line space and add affiliations. More than one affiliation can be indicated by appropriate numbers in parentheses next to the author name and corresponding affiliation
- Following this leave one line space and enter the abstract
- Please limit your abstract (excluding title, author and affiliations) to 250-words (as counted using the word count feature in Word). Long abstracts will be truncated at 250 words.
- Make sure all lines are single spaced and aligned Left
- Only electronic submission will be accepted
- If you need help completing the form, please call the BPP office at 215-573-4332
- Please do not use different styles such as bold, italics, underline, superscript, symbol and other fonts, as these are not compatible with on-line submission. If such styles are required please contact us for further information and submit all the information present on the on-line form with your abstract directly via email to postdoc@mail.med.upenn.edu
The following is an example of an abstract that was previously chosen for poster presentation:
Myofibrillogenesis in the First Cardiomyocytes Formed from Isolated Quail Precardiac Mesoderm
Aiping Du (1), Jean M. Sanger (1), Kersti K. Linask (2) and Joseph W. Sanger (1)
(1) Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6058; (2) Department of Cell Biology, UMDNJ-SOM, Stratford, NJ 08084-1156
The de novo assembly of myofibrils in the first cardiomyocytes was investigated in explants of precardiac mesoderm isolated from quail embryos to address a controversy about different models of myofibrillogenesis. The sequential expression of sarcomeric components was visualized in immunostained explants. In stage 6 explants, cultured for ten hours, ectoderm, endoderm and the precardiac mesoderm display arrays of stress fibers with alternating bands of non-muscle alpha-actinin and nonmuscle-myosinIIB. With increasing time in culture precardiac mesoderm acquired sarcomeric isoforms of alpha-actinin, muscle myosin II and titin. The localization of these proteins supports the model of myofibrillogenesis in which assembly begins with premyofibrils and progresses through nascent myofibrils to mature myofibrils. Fibrils with bands of muscle-specific alpha-actinin alternating with bands of nonmuscle-myosinIIB were present in premyofibrils. In older cultures, fibrils with bands of nonmuscle-myosinIIB and overlapping concentrations of muscle myosin II, nascent myofibrils, were found. The fibrils with non-muscle myosin, premyofibrils and nascent myofibrils, were significantly diminished when the explants became contractile and A-bands of muscle myosin II were detected. In dividing cells, actin, sarcomeric-alpha-actinin, and nonmuscle-myosinIIB were concentrated in the cleavage furrows, while titin and muscle myosin II were not. Inhibition of the assembly of nonmuscle-myosinIIB filaments by ML-7 lead to an inhibition in the assembly of mature myofibrils, that was reversible upon removal of ML-7. These results provide evidence that the premyofibril model of myofibrillogenesis that was originally based on the study of embryonic and adult cardiomyocytes in culture can account for myofibrils formed de novo in the first cardiomyocytes.
II. Information for Poster Sessions
General Information for all Poster Session Presenters:
- All poster boards will be set up in the lobby of BRBII/III.
- The dimensions of your poster cannot exceed 4 feet by 4 feet. Push pins will be provided to display each poster
- At the top of each poster board, there will be a number. Please match your abstract number to the number on the poster board
- When preparing your poster, please remember that faculty judges will be evaluating your work. Based on the posters during your session, the judges will select the top poster in each section.
- The best poster and oral presentation prizes will be awarded after the keynote lecture.
III. Information for Oral Sessions
General Instructions for all Oral Session Presenters
- 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 adhered to make sure that the program stays on schedule. A warning buzzer will be sounded after 10 min and the final buzzer at 15 min.
- You must be in the room for your presentation at least 15 min before the session itself starts. This will enable the moderator to check your presentation with the A/V equipment.
- Please burn your presentation onto a flash-drive or CD-ROM for easy loading onto the laptop. The laptops/ systems used by the A/V dept are PC based.
- Laptops, laser pointers, projectors and other A/V equipment will be provided, if you require any special equipment (video, overhead projector etc) please inform us of this before time so that we can have it ready.
- A prize will be given to the top presenter in each oral presentation session.
- Your mentor, labmates and anyone else who would like to support you are welcome and encouraged to attend!
Prizes will be awarded to the top presentation in each oral session and the top poster in each poster section. Judges decisions are final and binding. Awards will be presented at the end of the day following the Keynote Lecture.
Our keynote lecturer is Robert Sapolsky, Ph.D., John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Departments of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, and of Neurosurgery, Stanford University School of Medicine.
If you have any questions regarding abstract submission, general participation or any other issues please contact the Office of Biomedical Postdoctoral Programs at postdoc@mail.med.upenn.edu or 215-573-4332.