From left: Ricardo Mallarino, Karen Sears, Philip Abitua, Nipam Patel, Paul Trainor, and Caroline Albertin
From unlocking the secrets of healthy aging in bats to uncovering patterning mechanisms in mammalian skin, the 32nd Annual Developmental Biology Center (DBC) Symposium shed light on the unique paths to understanding biology.
Event organizers Hiroshi Nakato, Yasu Kawakami, and Maureen Cetera selected the theme, identified hosts, and helped choose speakers. They also coordinated and judged a poster session.
The DBC Symposium is an annual gathering that brings together leading experts, rising stars, and curious minds to showcase their work in cutting-edge science, technology, and innovation. This year’s theme, “Unconventional Development: Insights from Outliers,” revealed how organisms can reveal surprising discoveries on topics like evolution, behavior, and disease.
Some of the talks included:
- “Multicellularity and collective behavior in the closest living relatives of animals” by Thibaut Brunet, Pasteur Institute
- “Emergence of a novel innate immune lineage in the African turquoise killifish” by Philip Abitua, University of Washington
- “The evolution and development of cephalopod brains and bodyplan” by Caroline Albertin, University of Chicago Marine Biological Laboratory
Attendees also engaged in a poster session, with 16 students and research staff having a chance to share their research projects. The event wrapped up with a banquet at the Weisman Art Museum, featuring a keynote by Paul Trainor, a developmental biologist and investigator at Stowers Institute, who spoke on the global processes of tissue-specific effects in development and disease.
Participants left with a fresh perspective on developmental biology, new connections, and a meaningful sense of how research is driving innovation. –Briana Galbraith