confirmed international Speakers ...
James Bear
School of Medicine
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
My lab focuses on actin-based cell motility. Actin-based motility is a key component in many cellular processes relevant to clinical problems such as cancer metastasis, birth defects and compromised immune function. We are using both molecule-based and unbiased genetic/proteomic approaches to understand the fundamental problem of cell migration and other aspects of actin-based motility. We utilize the techniques of high-resolution live cell microscopy, biochemistry, gene silencing/disruption and other molecular manipulations to uncover some of the underlying mechanisms of cell motility.
Sponsored by IMB
Barry Dickson
Scientific Director, Senior Scientist
Research Institute of Molecular Pathology
Vienna, Austria
Genes, Circuits and Behaviour
We are using molecular genetic techniques in Drosophila to try to understand the genetic and neural basis of animal behaviour. The main focus of our research is on the fly’s mating behaviour – a robust and ancient animal instinct that is particularly amenable to genetic analysis.
Anne-Claude Gavin
EMBL, Heidelberg, Germany
Protein complexes, interactive networks and modeling of cell biological processes
At cellular levels, gene products very rarely act alone; the orchestration of complex biological functions is the result of networks of molecules. Traditional approaches have typically focused on a few, selected gene products and their interactions in a particular physiological context. We are proponents and pioneers of more general strategies aimed at understanding complex biological systems, and follow three main lines of research to understand the principles that govern the assembly of these networks.
- The charting of protein-protein interaction networks
- The study of protein complexes and network order of assembly and dynamics
- The extension of interaction networks from proteins to other cell's building blocks; metabolites-on-proteomes networks
Angus Lamond
Head, Division of Gene Regulation & Expression
Wellcome Trust Biocentre
University of Dundee
EMBO Plenary Lecturer
All living organisms are made of cells and store their genetic information in the same way, as long molecules of DNA that are organised into structures within the cells called chromosomes. The chromosomes contain many different genes that carry the instructions to allow the cells to make proteins and to control their growth and division. In the more complex forms of cells found in plants and animals, chromosomes are kept within a specialised compartment called the cell nucleus and it is within the nucleus that genes are activated. Each gene is also copied every time a cell divides to ensure that both daughter cells receive a copy of every gene. Our research is aimed at understanding how the nucleus works and how the different components within the nucleus are organised to help it to function efficiently. We study the nucleus using advanced light microscopes to see where molecules are located and to record how they move under different conditions.
Created in 2001 and using the tools of EMBO's well-established programmes, THE EMBO WORLD PROGRAMME aims to open a gateway of possibilities for exchange of information and at the same time provide opportunities for collaboration with countries outside of Europe.
We are grateful for support from THE EMBO WORLD PROGRAMME for the 2004-2009 Meetings.
Mark Marsh
LMCB, MRC Cell Biology Unit & Department of Developmental Biology,
UCL
Cell Biology of Virus Entry and Assembly
Our research is currently focused on two areas:
- Understanding the mechanisms of assembly of HIV and how this might be used to understand and combat pathogenesis.
- Understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms that control the cell surface expression of the receptors for HIV and related viruses. Enveloped virus entry and egress is tightly linked to cellular membranes. Understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying these events informs us not only of the viruses themselves, but also of some basic properties of these membrane systems.
Dominique Soldati-Favre
The University of Geneva
Cell invasion of parasites
Research Interest: The biology of an obligate intracellular parasite
One of the fundamental questions in parasitology is to understand how a eukaryotic cell can penetrate, survive and replicate within another eukaryotic cell. Acquisition of such basic knowledge is considered a prerequisite to design strategies of intervention to prevent or cure infectious diseases.
Members of Apicomplexa are of considerable medical and veterinary significance, being responsible for a wide variety of diseases in human and animals, including malaria, toxoplasmosis, cryptosporidiosis and coccidiosis
Lila Solnica-Krezel
Vanderbilt University
Nashville TN USA
We are interested in the cellular and molecular genetic mechanisms underlying vertebrate gastrulation, a crucial period of embryogenesis during which the germ layers are formed and then shaped into the vertebrate body plan. Gastrulation entails a combination of inductive events that specify cell identities with massive cell movements and rearrangements that generate and shape the germ layers. The complex and dynamic nature of gastrulation makes it a challenging but intellectually fascinating object of study. In humans, 25-50% of pregnancies end in early miscarriages of largely unknown genetic origin. Moreover, recent studies demonstrate that the molecular regulation of tumor growth and metastasis is strikingly similar to that of morphogenetic processes such as gastrulation, underscoring the practical significance of gastrulation research. We are addressing the mechanisms of gastrulation in the zebrafish (Danio rerio), a system that affords a powerful combination of forward and reverse genetic analyses with embryological and molecular methods.
Sponsored by
Colin Stewart
Institute of Medical Biology
Singapore
Colin heads the IMB, Singapore's Developmental and Regenerative Biology group as Principal Investigator. He studies the molecular mechanisms underlying multiple tissue failure in genetic disorders caused by mutations in lamins and related proteins of the nuclear envelope. This investigation also includes the role of the organisation of the cell nucleus in ageing, obesity, and other degenerative diseases .
In addition, his group is deeply involved in studying the importance of nuclear architecture for embryonic and adult stem cell functions, a continuation of Colin's long-term interest and ground-breaking work in early mammalian development and embryonic stem cells.
symposia Speakers ...