Calendar of events, awards and opportunities

June 7: Insomnia biomarkers awards for junior researchers

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine Foundation has established a new award program for junior researchers. The Focused Projects Award for Junior Investigators is for scientists pursuing basic, translational, clinical or population sleep and circadian science. The work should be related to the identification, evaluation or validation of insomnia biomarkers. The $50,000 award provides seed funding for mentored research projects. We're told the AASM Foundation hopes to issue three awards. The deadline is June 7. Learn more.

June 16: Metabolic reconstruction, modeling and omics data analysis through BioCyc

The first part of this free bioinformatics workshop will provide a tutorial for using the BioCyc pathway/genome web portal and Pathway Tools software developed by the Bioinformatics Research Group at SRI International. In the second part of the workshop, Jeremy Zucker of the Pacific Northwest National Lab will give a talk about Pathway Tools-based metabolic reconstructions. It is titled “AI-assisted metabolic and regulatory investigations of the circadian clock in the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa.” Learn more.

June 20–25: Teaching science with big data

This international meeting guides faculty on how to teach using web-based, free-access large data sets. How big is "big data"? Data that is so large, fast or complex that it's difficult or impossible to process using traditional methods. Join us to learn these valuable teaching skills to prepare students for the future. Sponsored by the ASBMB and the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Registration and abstract information.

June 21: Flux-independent signaling by ionotropic receptors

Save the date for the virtual event "Flux-independent signaling by ionotropic receptors: Unforeseen roles and complexities" on June 21. The organizers say it will be of interest to neuroscientists, cell biologists, molecular biologists and biochemists, among others, involved in the study of cell physiology and function in health and disease. Read the event description and register.

GSA seminar series on gene function across organisms

The Genetics Society of America is hosting a free series of seminars from June through November exploring gene function across humans and model organisms. GSA's president, Hugo Bellen, explained the impetus for this series in an op-ed in May. He wrote, in part, "We believe that these seminars will be useful to investigators at all career stages and across different model organisms, as well as for human biologists. We hope this will add a new dimension to research, reveal unanticipated phenotypes, speed up discovery, allow new funding opportunities, and lead to the discovery of new fundamental aspects of biology." Below is the schedule of seminars. See the speakers and register here.

June 28 — Tackling human gene function in model organisms

July 26 — Matching interests across research teams: GeneMatcher and ModelMatcher

Aug. 23 — MARRVEL: Mining genetic and genomic data across model organisms and human

Sept. 20 — Mining model organism data in the Alliance of Genome Resources Portal

Oct. 4 — Monarch Initiative: Cross-species phenotype comparison for disease diagnosis and discovery

Nov. 1 — Unraveling the links between hereditary and viral microcephaly

July 21–23: Extracellular vesicle studies: From benchtop to therapeutics

Extracellular vesicles are secreted, membrane-bound compartments containing DNA and cytoplasmic constituent molecules of all types that are thought to act as mediators of intercellular communication. They are classified by both size and location/mechanism of cellular origination. They are thought to be produced by an ever-expanding diversity of cell types and species. However, there is also considerable skepticism related to their existence and utility, as it can be difficult to isolate EVs since there is no EV-specific molecular marker to target. (Editor's note: See this ASBMB Today feature on EVs by former science writer Rajendrani Mukhopadhyay.)

A primary focus in recent years has been to describe the mechanisms of molecular sorting that would allow researchers to target proteins produced from exogenously introduced DNA to EVs for cellular secretion and uptake. The potential value of EVs to therapeutics is thought to be enormous, thanks to the role of EVs in cell–cell communication as a robust, native delivery vehicle.

This event will appeal to a broad audience, including molecular biologists, biochemists, biophysicists, secretion experts, cell–cell communication specialists, clinicians, physiologists and others. Submit an abstract by May 27. The early registration deadline is June 25, and the regular registration deadline is July 16. Visit the event homepage.

Call for virtual scientific event proposals

The ASBMB provides members with a virtual platform to share scientific research and accomplishments and to discuss emerging topics and technologies with the BMB community.

The ASBMB will manage the technical aspects, market the event to tens of thousands of contacts and present the digital event live to a remote audience. Additional tools such as polling, Q&A, breakout rooms and post event Twitter chats may be used to facilitate maximum engagement.

Seminars are typically one to two hours long. A workshop or conference might be longer and even span several days.

Prospective organizers may submit proposals at any time. Decisions are usually made within four to six weeks. 

Propose an event.