Proposal #: 15-12
2013 FASEB SCIENCE RESEARCH CONFERENCES ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING
TOPIC FOR CONSIDERATION
TOPIC NAME: HELICASES AND NUCLEIC-ACID BASED MACHINES: FROM MECHANISM TO INSIGHT INTO DISEASE
PREVIOUS TITLE: Helicases & Nucleic Acid Translocases: Structure, Mehcanism, Function, and Roles in Human Diseases
SUBMITTED BY: Maria Spies, University of Iowa Karsten Weis, University of California - Berkeley
YEAR REQUESTED FOR 2015 SCHEDULING:
SITE REQUESTS: 1. Steamboat Springs, CO 2. Snowmass, CO 3. Keystone, CO
DATE REQUESTS: 1. July 26-31, 2015 2. July 12-17, 2015 3. July 19-24, 2015
YEAR(S) CONFERENCE 2001, 2003, 2007, 2011 HAS BEEN HELD:
NOTES: FASEB SRC on “Genetic Recombination and Genome Rearrangements”. The equivalent meeting was held back-to-back with our meeting in 2011, which was a great success. We have been in communication with Dr. Michale Lichten, the organizer, to coordinate date requests. If possible, we would like to request that the Recombination meeting either directly precedes or follows our meeting.
Dear Colleague,
We invite you to submit a proposal for a future FASEB Science Research Conference Series (SRC).
Since 1982, FASEB has worked hand-in-hand with scientists to organize conferences for experimental biologists. The Conferences are divided up into small groups, who meet intimately and without distractions to explore new approaches to research areas undergoing rapid scientific change. FASEB supports over 35 SRCs each year. Site preferences for 2015, 2016, and 2017 are Big Sky, MT, Chicago, IL, Saxtons River, VT, Snowmass, CO, Steamboat Springs, CO, Nassau, Bahamas, Keystone, CO, Liverpool, England, Palm Beach, FL Palm Springs, CA, Reno/Las Vegas, NV, and Lisbon, Portugal
Site preference selection will be prioritized by site availability, history of conference success and registration fee factors. Additionally, FASEB welcomes new site suggestions that are conducive to conference requirements.
Please review the attached information and feel free to contact the SRC Office should you have any questions or need guidance in preparing your proposal.
We look forward to welcoming you and your conference into the FASEB Science Research Conferences series.
Sincerely,
The FASEB SRC Staff: Marcella Jackson, CMP, Director ([email protected]) Robin Crawford, CMP, Conference Manager ([email protected]) Kristen Hagy, CMP, Conference Manager ([email protected]) Trina Eacho, Conference Coordinator ([email protected]) Clay Pencek, Administrative Assistant ([email protected])
Main Number: 301-634-7010
FASEB SRC Proposal Instructions
Attached are the instructions and requirements for submitting a FASEB SRC proposal. Please complete sections 1-6 before submitting your information. Please submit your proposal by September 23, 2013 in order to be considered for the 2015 SRC Series.
Proposals will be reviewed by the FASEB Science Research Conference Advisory Committee in mid November. Shortly thereafter, you will receive a letter with the committee’s decision on your submitted proposal. By the end of January 2014 you will receive a second letter which will indicate the location and date for your conference as well as the name of your assigned Conference Manager. Once your conference is approved, your conference manager will schedule a kick-off conference call to discuss timelines, expectations, instructions on fund raising, and program management to help make your organization process successful.
Section 1: Organizer Responsibilities
By submitting a FASEB Science Research Conference proposal for consideration by the FASEB SRC Advisory Committee, the organizer(s) accepts the responsibility for producing a successful conference. These responsibilities include:
1. Anything related to the scientific portion of your conference. You will need to provide the Conference title and topics. The Conference title and topics should be timely and attractive.
2. Organizers must assist in recruiting no less than 100 participants to the conference.
3. All fundraising efforts are the responsibility of the organizers with support and guidance by the FASEB SRC Staff. FASEB will provide $10,000 for each conference to help defray a portion of travel and registration costs for speakers.
4. Organizers are responsible for contacting all speakers and session chairs and inviting and confirming their participation. Speakers should be informed that their expenses will be reimbursed after the conference and only to the extent that funds are available. We recommend you do not commitment to a speaker a specific amount of funds prior to the Conference. (Note: Invited speakers and session chairs are required to remain at the Conference for a minimum of three full days and three full nights in order to be eligible for reimbursement of any Conference related expenses.)
5. Organizers must include a “Meet the Expert” session in the program. This session is aimed at encouraging the younger investigators an opportunity to network with the more established and senior PIs in your field. This session can be scheduled during meals or at poster sessions.
6. Organizers must provide conference agenda for posting online.
7. Organizers must provide a final conference agenda. It is the organizers’ responsibility to provide the speaker abstracts (in presentation order), poster abstracts, and a poster listing of the submitted abstracts. The Conference Manager will prepare the cover for the program, the participant list and have the final packet of materials reproduced and shipped to the venue.
8. Organizers must provide conference agenda for posting online.
9. Organizers will participate in periodic discussions with their assigned Conference Manager. By doing so, this will eliminate any miscommunication or understanding of the policies and procedures that will needed to be followed.
Section 2: Conference Title & Organizer Information:
Please insert the title of the Conference as you would like it to be advertised in future publications. List the organizing committee below and complete contact information and attach a brief CVs (maximum 3 pages) in NIH format for each.
TITLE OF CONFERENCE:
Helicases and Nucleic-Acid Based Machines: From Mechanism to Insight into Disease
# of EXPECTED ATTENDEES: 150
Preferred Primary Point of Contact for Proposal Questions:
Name: Maria Spies
Full Address: Carver College of Medicine, U. of Iowa , 51 Newton Rd., 4-532 BSB, Iowa City, IA 52242
Telephone #: 319-335-3221 Email Address: [email protected]
Science Categories (select up to 3)
1) Molecular Biology 2) Biochemistry 3) Cell Biology (see Attachment A - for marketing and audience generation purposes)
Organizing Committee: Organizer Chair: Maria Spies, PhD_Title: Associate Professor Affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa Full Address: Carver College of Medicine, U. of Iowa , 51 Newton Rd., 4-532 BSB, Iowa City, IA 52242 Phone: 319-335-3221 Email: [email protected]
Organizer Co-Chair Karsten Weis, PhD Title: Professor Affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley Full Address: Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, LSA, Box 3200, Rm 329, Berkeley, CA94720-3200 Phone: 510-643-0407 Email: [email protected]
Section 3: Program Submission Requirements & Outline:
Please insert program details in day order as requested below. Session titles should be listed with session chairs and affiliations. Indicate the proposed tentative talk titles within each session and list up to at least 4 speakers per session (not including short talks selected from submitted abstracts). Please remember to also include the required “Meet the Expert” session.
The FASEB SRC Advisory Committee requires all session chairs to be confirmed before the submission of the application. Be sure to indicate with a "C" if the session chair is confirmed, indicate with a “CS” if the speaker is confirmed, indicate with a "W" which session chairs and speakers are women, indicate with an "M" which session chairs and speakers are of a minority group and indicate with the word “NEW” which session chairs and speakers are new to the program. (Note: The committee defines new speakers as one that has NOT spoken at the last two (2) Conferences.)
Overview of Program Flow
# of Days: 1 evening + 4 full days
# of Sessions per day: Keynote 1st evening, 2 platform sessions per day thereafter
# of Speaker per day: Varies, 14
# of Session chairs per day: 2
# of Breakouts per day: 3x2-hr, 1x1hr poster session& 1x “Meet the Expert” session (see below)
# of Abstracts per day: Varies
SUNDAY To include: Conference Registration 4 p.m. – 9 p.m., FASEB SRC Welcome Reception 5 p.m. – 6 p.m., Dinner 6 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Title of Session: Keynote address Keynote Speaker: Gerald Crabtree, HHMI/Stanford University (C, NEW) Tentative Title of Talk: BAF chromatin remodeling complex: from development to cognition
MONDAY
Monday morning
To include: Group photo during morning break
Welcome from FASEB
Title of Session 1: Helicase structure and mechanisms
Session Chair & Affiliation: James Keck, University of Wisconsin, Madison (C) Tentative Title of Talk: Structural mechanisms of replication restart
Speaker 1: Dale Wigley Affiliation: Institute of Cancer Research, London UK Tentative Title of Talk: Structure and mechanism of AddAB and RecBCD complexes in DNA repair
Speaker 2: Caroline Kisker (W, NEW) Affiliation: University of Würzburg, Germany Tentative Title of Talk: Structural mechanisms of nucleotide excision repair helicases
Speaker 3: Tim Lohman Affiliation: Washington University, USA Tentative Title of Talk: DNA unwinding and translocation by RecBCD helicase
Speaker 4: _ Yann Chemla (NEW) Affiliation: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA Tentative Title of Talk: Helicase stepping dynamics revealed by high resolution optical tweezers
Number of talks selected from abstracts: 2
Monday Afternoon
Title of Session 2: RNA helicases and the regulation of gene expression
Session Chair & Affiliation: Dagmar Klostermeier, U. of Munster, Germany (C, W) Tentative Title of Talk: Mechanistic Analysis of DEAD box ATPases
Speaker 1: Anna Pyle (W) Affiliation: HHMI/Yale University, USA Tentative Title of Talk: Structure and mechanism of RIG-I
Speaker 2: Susan Wente (W, NEW) Affiliation: Vanderbilt University, USA Tentative Title of Talk: Mechanism of mRNA export regulated by the DEAD box ATPase Dbp5
Speaker 3: Eckhard Jankowsky Affiliation: Case Western Reserve, USA Tentative Title of Talk: Insights into the function of Ded1 in translational control
Speaker 4: Herve Le Hir Affiliation: Baylor College of Medicine Tentative Title of Talk: Repair of broken replication forks-mechanism and regulation
Number of talks selected from abstracts: __2___
Monday evening
Poster sessions 1 (2 hours)
TUESDAY
Tuesday morning
Title of Session 3: Machines involved in regulating mRNA stability Session Chair & Affiliation: Elena Conti, MPI for Biochemistry Munich, Germany (C, W, NEW) Tentative Title of Talk: Structure and Function of cellular machines that regulate mRNA stability
Speaker 1: Roy Parker (NEW) Affiliation: University of Colorado, USA Tentative Title of Talk: Eukaryotic mRNA turnover
Speaker 2: Sandra Wolin (W, NEW) Affiliation: Yale University, USA Tentative Title of Talk: RNA degradation regulated by non-coding RNAs
Speaker 3: Lynne Maquat (W, NEW) Affiliation: University of Rochester, USA Tentative Title of Talk: Mechanism and Function of Non-sense-mediated decay
Speaker 4: J Britt Glaunsinger (W, NEW) Affiliation: UC Berkeley, USA Tentative Title of Talk: Regulation of host mRNA stability by viruses
Number of talks selected from abstracts: __2___
Meet the expert session
Tuesday afternoon
Title of Session 4: Molecular machines of replication Session Chair & Affiliation: Johannes Walter, Harvard Medical School, USA (C, NEW) Tentative Title of Talk: Replication-coupled DNA cross-link repair
Speaker 1: Terry Orr-Weaver (W, NEW) Affiliation: MIT, USA Tentative Title of Talk: Regulation of DNA replication during development
Speaker 2: Ken Marians Affiliation: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, USA Tentative Title of Talk: Mechanisms of replication restart
Speaker 3: Vincent Croquette (NEW) Affiliation: École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France Tentative Title of Talk: Single-molecule reconstitution of the replisome
Speaker 4: Sandra Weller (W, NEW) Affiliation: University of Connecticut, Health Center, USA Tentative Title of Talk: Helicases in DNA replication of herpes simplex viruses
Number of talks selected from abstracts: 2_
Tuesday evening
Poster sessions 2 (2 hours)
WEDNESDAY
Wednesday morning
Title of Session 5: ATP dependent translocases and molecular switches Session Chair & Affiliation: Tom Owen-Hughes, University of Dundee (C) Tentative Title of Talk: Structural and functional studies of chromatin remodeling enzymes
Speaker 1: Xiaowen Zhuang (W, NEW) Affiliation: HHMI/Harvard Univeristy, USA Tentative Title of Talk: Single-molecule studies of ISWI chromatin remodelers
Speaker 2: Mark Szczelkun Affiliation: Bristol University, UK Tentative Title of Talk: Roles of helicase domains in long-range communications on DNA
Speaker 3: Ralf Seidel Affiliation: University of Münster, Germany Tentative Title of Talk: Torsional mechanics of DNA unwinding by a ribonucleoprotein complex
Speaker 4: James Kadonaga (NEW) Affiliation: University of California, San Diego, USA Tentative Title of Talk: ATP-dependent chromatin assembly and remodeling
Number of talks selected from abstracts: __2_
Wednesday afternoon
Group or individual activities 1 p.m. – 5 p.m
Poster session 3 (1 hour, catch-up session; informal viewing & discussion)
Wednesday evening
Title of Session 6: RNA-mediated gene regulation Session Chair & Affiliation: Jennifer Doudna, University of California, Berkeley (C, W, NEW) Tentative Title of Talk: Regulation of gene expression by non-coding RNAs
Speaker 1: David Tollervey (NEW) Affiliation: MRC Edinburgh, UK Tentative Title of Talk: Non-coding RNAs and mRNAs: brothers separated at birth
Speaker 2: Elisa Izzaurralde (W, NEW) Affiliation: MPI Tübingen, Germany Tentative Title of Talk: Regulation of translation and mRNA turnover by small non-coding RNAs
Speaker 3: Nicolas Rajewsky (NEW) Affiliation: Max-Delbrück-Center Berlin, Germany Tentative Title of Talk: Post-transcriptional gene regulation by small RNAs and associated proteins
Speaker 4: Virginijus Siksnys Affiliation: Institute of Biotechnology Vilnius University, Lithuania Tentative Title of Talk: Gene expression regulation by CRISPR/CAS systems
Number of short talks selected from abstracts: __2__
THURSDAY
Thursday morning (to include business meeting)
Title of Session 7: Molecular machines of recombination and DNA repair Session Chair & Affiliation: Wolf Heyer, University of California, Davis, USA (C) Tentative Title of Talk: Regulation of recombinational DNA repair
Speaker 1: Steve Kowalczykowski Affiliation: University of California, Davis, USA Tentative Title of Talk: Watching individual DNA helicases and motor proteins
Speaker 2: Sua Myong (W, NEW) Affiliation: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA Tentative Title of Talk: Single-molecule studies of Srs2 helicase
Speaker 3: Mark Dillingham Affiliation: Bristol University, UK Tentative Title of Talk: The mechanism of Chi-sequence recognition during DSB break resection
Speaker 4: Kevin Raney Affiliation: University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, USA Tentative Title of Talk: The mechanism of Pif1 helicase
Number of short talks selected from abstracts: __2__
Thursday afternoon
Poster session 4 (1 hour, catch-up session; informal viewing & discussion)
Title of Session 8: DNA helicases associated with genetic instability, cancer and aging Session Chair & Affiliation: Ian Hickson, University of Copenhagen, Denmark (C) Tentative Title of Talk: Helicases in maintenance and processing of recombinational intermediates
Speaker 1: Virginia Zakian (W) Affiliation: Princeton University, USA Tentative Title of Talk: Helicases in telomere maintenance
Speaker 2: Peter McGlynn Affiliation: University of York, UK Tentative Title of Talk: Minimizing replication fork pausing
Speaker 3: Bob Brosh Affiliation: National Institute on Aging, NIH, USA Tentative Title of Talk: Helicases in cancer and aging
Speaker 4: Pietro Pichierri (NEW) Affiliation: Instituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy Tentative Title of Talk: Werner helicase and the maintenance of genetic stability
Number of short talks selected from abstracts: __2__
FRIDAY
Option 2: Breakfast & Departure
End of Conference
Section 4: Content Assessment:
Please complete the grid below which will assist the FASEB SRC Advisory Committee in assessing the requirements of the proposal. Positive reviews are given to proposals with confirmation of session chairs and invited speakers, new speakers to the program, a good representation of women, and a sufficient number of short talks from junior level investigators.
Indicate the number of session chairs that have confirmed their participation: 8 Indicated the number of women included with the entire program: 15 Indicate the number of session chairs/speakers of a minority group: 0 Indicate the number of new speakers to the Conference: 21 Indicate the number of speakers that have confirmed their participation in the Conference: 9 Indicated the number of talks set aside for junior level investigators to present their work: 22 Indicated the number of poster sessions that will be organized: 4
Please provide a brief description of the how the poster sessions will be organized: There will be 2 two-hour “regular” poster sessions with 1/2 of poster authors presenting at each session. However, posters will be ½-size posters, which will allow that all poster can remain mounted for the entire meeting.In addition, there will be 2 informal “catch-up” poster sessions, to foster further discussion between poster authors and other meeting participants.
Indicate (if known) if there is a potential of a conflict with any other FASEB SRC or any other society or industry meeting. If yes, please explain the conflict in detail.
FASEB SRC on “Genetic Recombination and Genome Rearrangements”. The equivalent meeting was held back-to-back with our meeting in 2011, which was a great success. We have been in communication with Dr. Michale Lichten, the organizer, to coordinate date requests. If possibl,,we would like to request that the Recombination meeting either directly precedes or follows our meeting.
Section 5: Scheduling & Location Preferences:
Select three (3) choices of dates that you wish to hold the Conference. Define the pattern flow, start date, and end date of your Conference
Week 1: July 26-31 Week 2:July 12-17 Week 3: July 19-24
Select at least three (3) cities/venues for consideration. Venue #1 should be the most preferred. (Note: We will do our best to give you your first choice but it cannot be guaranteed).
Please mark the type of facility you would like to host the program. Any
Hotel Conference Center University, Academic Setting (summer only)
Cities/venues Preference Steamboat Springs, CO 1 2 3 Snowmass, CO 1 2 3 Keystone, CO 1 2 3
TRADITIONAL VENUES: Big Sky, MT Chicago, IL Saxtons River, VT (University setting) Snowmass, CO Steamboat Springs, CO Nassau, Bahamas (passport required, government funding may be limited)
NEW: Keystone, CO Liverpool, England (passport required, government funding may be limited) Palm Beach, FL Palm Springs, CA Reno/Las Vegas, NV
Locations are contingent upon group interest. Every effort will be given to the Organizer’s choice of venue and date choice. Due to limited availability and scheduling site and date preferences are not guaranteed.
For each conference year, a minimum of four (4) conference proposals should have interest in a potential venue in order for that venue to be used as a conference location.
Section 6: Justification:
The SRC Advisory Committee requires all proposals to include answers to the following nine (9) questions. In a separate Microsoft Word document, answer each individual question accordingly. Once completed, name the document the title of your Conference and attach this file to your email when submitting the final proposal.
1. Explain why this topic is of high current interest to the scientific community.
2. Is this a rapidly growing field?
3. Have there been previous Conferences of this topic? If so, where and when were the Conferences held? How many participants attended? (Additionally, consider whether or not another similar Conference /meeting is scheduled that might cause a conflict).
4. How many participants do you expect to attend the Conference?
5. What is the percentage of women have participated in this Conference in the past (if it has been previously held)?
6. How will you recruit young investigators to attend and participate in the Conference?
7. How will you recruit and select new speakers?
8. Who will attend the Conference? (Provide specifics).
9. Where will the Conference be advertised? What types of media will be used to advertise your Conference? (Provide specifics).
Section 7: Submitting Your Proposal:
Please read the directions below for submitting your proposal. Feel free to contact the SRC Office should you have any questions or need guidance in submitting your proposal.
Instructions for submitting your proposal:
1. Print or save a copy of this form for your own records. 2. Email Robin Crawford, CMP at [email protected]. 3. Enter the title of your Conference and the year of the conference in the subject line. 4. Attach the following items to your e-mail: The file with the answers to the nine questions in Section 6: Justification CVs (in NIH Format) for all Organizers and Co-Organizers (maximum of 3 pages).
Thank you in advance for your proposal submission! We look forward to helping you plan a successful Conference.
For more information, please contact:
Marcella Jackson, Director, Office of Meetings and Conferences 301-634-7010, [email protected]
Robin Crawford, Conference Manager, FASEB Science Research Conferences 301-634-7093, [email protected]
Kristen Hagy, CMP, Conference Manager, FASEB Science Research Conferences 301-634-7094, [email protected]
Trina Eacho, Conference Coordinator, FASEB Science Research Conferences 301-634-7206, [email protected]
Clay Pencek, Administrative Assistant, FASEB Science Research Conferences 301-634-7018, [email protected]
Biology Categories
・ Aerobiology – the study of airborne organic particles ・ Agriculture – the study of producing crops from the land, with an emphasis on practical applications ・ Anatomy – the study of form and function, in plants, animals, and other organisms, or specifically in humans ・ Arachnology – the study of arachnids ・ Astrobiology – the study of evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe— also known as exobiology, exopaleontology, and bioastronomy ・ Biochemistry – the study of the chemical reactions required for life to exist and function, usually a focus on the cellular level ・ Bioengineering – the study of biology through the means of engineering with an emphasis on applied knowledge and especially related to biotechnology ・ Biogeography – the study of the distribution of species spatially and temporally ・ Bioinformatics – the use of information technology for the study, collection, and storage of genomic and other biological data ・ Biomathematics (or Mathematical biology) – the quantitative or mathematical study of biological processes, with an emphasis on modeling ・ Biomechanics – often considered a branch of medicine, the study of the mechanics of living beings, with an emphasis on applied use through prosthetics or orthotics ・ Biomedical research – the study of the human body in health and disease ・ Biophysics – the study of biological processes through physics, by applying the theories and methods traditionally used in the physical sciences ・ Biotechnology – a new and sometimes controversial branch of biology that studies the manipulation of living matter, including genetic modification and synthetic biology ・ Building biology – the study of the indoor living environment ・ Botany – the study of plants ・ Cell biology – the study of the cell as a complete unit, and the molecular and chemical interactions that occur within a living cell ・ Conservation biology – the study of the preservation, protection, or restoration of the natural environment, natural ecosystems, vegetation, and wildlife ・ Cryobiology – the study of the effects of lower than normally preferred temperatures on living beings ・ Developmental biology – the study of the processes through which an organism forms, from zygote to full structure ・ Ecology – the study of the interactions of living organisms with one another and with the non-living elements of their environment ・ Embryology – the study of the development of embryo (from fecundation to birth) ・ Entomology – the study of insects ・ Environmental biology – the study of the natural world, as a whole or in a particular area, especially as affected by human activity ・ Epidemiology – a major component of public health research, studying factors affecting the health of populations ・ Epigenetics – the study of heritable changes in gene expression or cellular phenotype caused by mechanisms other than changes in the underlying DNA sequence ・ Ethology – the study of animal behavior ・ Evolutionary biology – the study of the origin and descent of species over time ・ Genetics – the study of genes and heredity ・ Hematology ( also known as Haematology ) - the study of blood and blood - forming organs. ・ Herpetology – the study of reptiles and amphibians ・ Histology – the study of cells and tissues, a microscopic branch of anatomy ・ Ichthyology – the study of fish ・ Integrative biology – the study of whole organisms ・ Limnology – the study of inland waters ・ Mammalogy – the study of mammals ・ Marine biology (or Biological oceanography) – the study of ocean ecosystems, plants, animals, and other living beings ・ Microbiology – the study of microscopic organisms (microorganisms) and their interactions with other living things ・ Molecular biology – the study of biology and biological functions at the molecular level, some cross over with biochemistry ・ Mycology – the study of fungi ・ Neurobiology – the study of the nervous system, including anatomy, physiology and pathology ・ Oncology – the study of cancer processes, including virus or mutation oncogenesis, angiogenesis and tissues remoldings ・ Ornithology – the study of birds ・ Population biology – the study of groups of conspecific organisms, including o Population ecology – the study of how population dynamics and extinction o Population genetics – the study of changes in gene frequencies in populations of organisms ・ Paleontology – the study of fossils and sometimes geographic evidence of prehistoric life ・ Pathobiology or pathology – the study of diseases, and the causes, processes, nature, and development of disease ・ Parasitology – the study of parasites and parasitism ・ Pharmacology – the study and practical application of preparation, use, and effects of drugs and synthetic medicines ・ Physiology – the study of the functioning of living organisms and the organs and parts of living organisms ・ Phytopathology – the study of plant diseases (also called Plant Pathology) ・ Psychobiology – the study of the biological bases of psychology ・ Sociobiology – the study of the biological bases of sociology ・ Structural biology – a branch of molecular biology, biochemistry, and biophysics concerned with the molecular structure of biological macromolecules ・ Synthetic Biology- research integrating biology and engineering; construction of biological functions not found in nature ・ Virology – the study of viruses and some other virus-like agents ・ Zoology – the study of animals, including classification, physiology, development, and behavior (branches include: Entomology, Ethology, Herpetology, Ichthyology, Mammalogy, and Ornithology) Proposed FASEB 2015 meeting “Helicases and Nucleic-Acid Based Machines: From Mechanism to Insight into Disease”
Section 6: Justification
1. Explain why this topic is of high current interest to the scientific community.
Helicases and translocases remodel the structures of nucleic acids and nucleoprotein complexes. These remodeling processes are obligatory to all cellular information transactions, including DNA replication, DNA repair, DNA recombination, transcription, ribosome biogenesis, translation, RNA splicing, RNA editing, RNA transport, RNA degradation, bacterial conjugation, chromosome segregation and viral packaging and infection. Helicases and translocases are integral components of numerous molecular machines that orchestrate, regulate and coordinate these vital cellular functions. It is therefore not surprising that a large number of inherited human diseases including Bloom’s Syndrome, Werner’s Syndrome, Rothmund-Thompson Syndrome, Warsaw Breakage Syndrome, Fanconi Anemia, Cockayne’s Syndrome, Xeroderma Pigmentosum, Crohn’s Disease, Dyskeratosis congenital and Ophthalmoplegia have been linked to defects in specific helicases. Moreover, helicase defects or dysregulation can lead to genomic instability resulting in increased incidences of cancer, and numerous RNA helicases have been linked to tumorigenesis as well. In addition, many viruses encode helicases that play critical roles in viral life cycles, and viral helicases are therefore attractive targets for antiviral therapy. While it is now recognized that helicases and translocases are central components of all living organisms and that these enzymes function in a wide range of important biological processes, there is still much that we do not understand about the function, mechanism, and regulation of these enzymes. Particularly large knowledge gaps exist (i) in our understanding of the biological role of helicases in complex processes like oncogenesis, aging, and cell differentiation, (ii) the question of how structurally very similar helicases are tuned by supramolecular machines to perform drastically different cellular functions, or (iii) how we can incorporate the knowledge from the diverse disciplines into a roadmap towards the development of novel therapeutics. Hence, there is a strong need to share information obtained by different methods and, in particular, to bring together the diverse groups of scientists studying the structure, function and mechanism of these enzymes as well as the diseases that can result from defects in helicases and translocases.
2. Is this a rapidly growing field?
The study of helicases and translocases is a rapidly growing field, fueled by the fact that helicase defects are associated with inherited human diseases, and that helicase and translocases participate in a wide variety of cellular functions. The biological importance of helicases is now very clear and several new potential helicases are reported every month in the literature. In fact, a literature search indicates that since 2008 there have been over one thousand papers published every year that deal with helicases with steadily increasing numbers every year. The critical cellular roles of helicases has also spurred the development and application of many cutting edge experimental approaches ranging from structural biology and single-molecule biophysics to manipulation of pluripotent stem cells. We expect that the helicase field will continue its growth. In recent years, we have developed a first grasp on the basic mechano-chemistry and on the general structural organization of both RNA- and DNA helicases. Furthermore, we have appreciated the importance of these enzymes to many fundamental cellular processes. The
1 next steps will be now to understand the regulation of these enzymes, how they fit into supramolecular machines of the cell, and how we can exploit the knowledge of their structures and mechanisms to improve human health.
3. Have there been previous Conferences of this topic? If so, where and when were the Conferences held? How many participants attended? (Additionally, consider whether or not another similar Conference /meeting is scheduled that might cause a conflict).
Since the discovery of the first helicases in 1970s there have been nine meetings dedicated to helicases and translocases: Madrid 1999, FASEB 2001, Keystone 2002, FASEB 2003, EMBO 2005, FASEB 2007, EMBO 2009, FASEB 2011, and EMBO 2013. The Madrid meeting in 1999 was only a very small workshop (organized by E. Lanka and J. M. Carazo), supported by the Institute de Juan March, and limited to ~50 participants. The FASEB 2001 meeting (organized by Sandra Weller and Steve Matson) was the first meeting devoted solely to helicases to be held in the United States. The meeting had a great response and was very successful with close to 150 participants, of which approximately 70% were from the USA and included graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. It was clear that there was great interest to continue to have regular meetings on this subject and the participants voted to have a regular meeting every two years. The next FASEB meeting on helicases was in 2003 (organized by Anna Marie Pyle and Smita Patel). This meeting was also very successful both in terms of participation as well as scientific and intellectual stimulation. At the 2003 helicase meeting, it was suggested that the meeting alternates between Europe and the United States to facilitate the participation of more European researchers. As a result, the inaugural EMBO meeting on helicases (organized by Patrick Linder and Stephen Kowalczykowski) was an EMBO conference held in July, 2005 in Arolla, Switzerland. This meeting was also well attended (~150 participants) and the scientific discussions were terrific. The subsequent FASEB meeting on helicases and translocases (organized by Timothy Lohman and James Berger) was held in Indian Well, CA in June 2007. This meeting built upon the successes of the earlier conferences and was again an important gathering of established and new investigators in the field. The next EMBO helicase/translocase meeting (organized by Patrick Linder, Stephen Kowalczykowski and Dale Wigley) took place in June 2009 in Les Diablerets, Switzerland. At this meeting, a remarkable number of new investigators entering the helicase field presented their research. This strong tradition of excellent meetings has continued with the 2011 FASEB meeting (~100 participants) organized by James Keck and Eckhard Jankowsky and held at Steamboat Springs and with the latest meeting at Cambridge, UK co-sponsored by EMBO and the Harden Conferences (~140 participants) and organized by Frances Fuller-Pace, Mark Szczlkun, and Kevin Raney. Both the latest Steamboat Springs and Cambridge meetings were broad focused on helicase and translocase structure, function, mechanism and roles in human disease. As before, these meetings attracted a diverse and vibrant groups of scientists, received extremely positive feedback, and were instrumental in sparking new ideas and collaborations. With this rich history and its strong momentum, the FASEB-sponsored helicase and translocase meeting has become a touchstone event for investigators in the field and their graduate students and postdocs. We are now proposing to continue this important and very successful series with a meeting that includes a broad focus on structure, function, and mechanism and of helicases and helicase-like motors as components of fundamentally important supramolecular machines, their regulation, roles in human disease and potential as targets for novel therapeutic strategies. To our knowledge no conferences on helicases or helicase-like translocases are scheduled for 2015. However, we wish to avoid a conflict with another proposed FASEB meeting on Genetic Recombination and Genome Rearrangements, organized by Michael
2 Lichten and Tanya Paull, because some of our participants might like to attend this meeting as well. While the two meetings are clearly distinct, research interests of some of our participants lay in both areas. In fact it would be ideal to hold this and our meeting back-to-back to allow some participants to remain at the site and participate in both events. Such a timing was very successful and well received for the corresponding two FASEB meetings in 2011.
4. How many participants do you expect to attend the Conference?
Considering the strong tradition of this meeting and ever-growing helicase field, we expect that the proposed Helicases and Nucleic-Acid Based Machines conference will be fully subscribed, with ~150 participants.
5. What is the percentage of women have participated in this Conference in the past (if it has been previously held)?
2001 - 30% women (140 total participants) 2003 - 29% women (101 total participants) 2005 - 34% women (148 total participants) 2007 - 27% women (125 total participants) 2009 - 34% women (121 total participants) 2011 - 48% women (98 total participants) 2013 - 40% women (138 total participants)
6. How will you recruit young investigators to attend and participate in the Conference?
In all of the sessions, we plan to include one or more short research talks from a young investigator(s), at the Assistant Professor, postgraduate or postdoctoral level. This is a historical feature of the Helicases and Nucleic-Acid Based Machines conference, and has functioned well to provide outstanding young researchers an international venue to present their work. The selection of individuals to present the short talks will be based in part from the poster contributions. Since younger faculty often do not have large numbers publications that bring them to the attention of organizers, this process will help ensure that new investigators with exciting and important findings are not overlooked. In addition, the organizers of the meeting will solicit applications from suitable candidates prior to the meeting. To recruit the applications from young investigators, the descriptions of the meeting advertised by FASEB should include the phrase "additional speakers will be selected from among applicants to the meeting, with emphasis on late-breaking discoveries and new investigators in the field." Applications from young investigators in laboratories or research areas that are not otherwise represented in the program will be particularly welcomed. We also aim to use some of our funds raised from external sources to create travel awards to increase the number of students, postdocs, etc, in attendance.
7. How will you recruit and select new speakers?
The addition of new speakers to meeting rosters is essential to keep up with the latest developments in the field and to make certain that younger faculty are given the opportunity to present their work at public forums. In the current format for our proposed meeting, 18 (49%) of our speakers are new. There were several objective in selecting these individuals to speak at
3 our meeting. The new speakers were selected based on the quality of their research programs, as judged by their publication records and by their seminars and contributions at other conferences. Many of them, including the keynote speaker represent areas of research, the helicase field is expanding towards. The others represent the traditional strengths of the helicase research. Many of them are relatively young individuals at comparatively early stages in their career development.
8. Who will attend the Conference? (Provide specifics).
The goal of the proposed meeting is to bring together the diverse groups of scientists studying the structure, function and mechanism of DNA and RNA helicases, and nucleic acid translocases, as well as the diseases that can result from defects in these enzymes. Participants in this meeting would be expected to have expertise in a variety of disciplines including but not limited to biochemistry, biophysics, cell biology, genetics, molecular biology, virology, protein chemistry and structural analysis using tools of X-ray crystallography, electron microscopy, image analysis, etc. We expect a wide participation by the scientists in different stages of their careers from graduate students to established investigators leading prominent labs. The organizers for the 2015 conference believe it to be crucial to maintain the continued representation of women and minorities. Based on the previous meetings, we expect that a significant fraction of the attendees at the 2015 conference will be from these groups. To maintain a strong level of continuity with the previous Helicase meetings, it is essential to be able to place the new advances that will be presented at the 2015 conference into the full context of past achievements. Therefore, we have chosen as repeat speakers individuals who we feel represent particularly outstanding examples of research and who have also mentored the career development of their junior colleagues, and continuously provided an inspiration to the attendees of the previous meetings. In our opinion, the proposed program thus includes an attractive balance of new young investigators with burgeoning reputations and established investigators with long and distinguished track records. We also seek to maintain the international profile of the meeting, by inviting a significant number of foreign speakers. We anticipate a similar geographical distribution of participants as at the previous meetings with an equal numbers of domestic and international participants.
9. From what sources and resources will you use to solicit funds for the conference? (Provide specifics).
Several pharmaceutical companies are interested in helicases as possible targets for anti-viral or anti-cancer therapies as well as for use as molecular biological tools. For example, Schering- Plough works on the structure of the Hepatitis C helicase. Becton-Dickinson, Glaxo-Wellcome, Amersham and BioHelix (a subsidiary of New England BioLabs) have all expressed interest in helicases, and investigators from several companies have attended the helicase meetings. The following companies have supported this conference in the past: Novartis, Invitrogen, US Biological, Applied Biosystems, Gilead Sciences, Glen Research, Schering Plough, Eli Lilly, Boehringer Ingelhein (Canada Ltd.), Promega Corp., Wyeth Ayerst, Veterx Pharmaceuticals, Merck and Co., New England Biolabs, Roche Diagnostics, Lucerna Chem, Eurogentec and Qiagen. Past support has also been provided by the RNA Society, Swiss Society of Microbiology, Swiss National Science Foundation, Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences.
4 Support will also be sought from the NIH, NSF, Fanconi Anemia Society and the Ellison Medical Research Foundation, which have all supported past meetings on this topic. Finally, we will seek support from journals (such as for example DNA Repair & PLOS) and Publishing houses (such as for example Springer) who, in recent years, published a number of books important to the helicase field.
10. Where will the Conference be advertised? What types of media will be used to advertise your Conference? (Provide specifics).
The program for this conference will be published several months in advance as part of the regular FASEB announcements. This conference will be advertised in the newsletters of relevant scientific societies and in selected journals such as The EMBO Journal, Nature, Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, Science, Journal of Virology, Cell, Molecular Cell, American Journal of Medical Genetics, Human Genetics, RNA and Lancet. We will also advertise by personal e-mailing to participants of the previous meetings on this topic as well as previous meetings on DNA and RNA metabolism, cancer and aging, to help attract as many new and returning attendees as possible.
11. What societies and disciplines will you attract to attend the conference? (Provide specifics)
Participants in this meeting would be expected to have expertise in a variety of disciplines including but not limited to biochemistry, biophysics, cell biology, genetics, molecular biology, virology, protein chemistry and structural analysis using tools of X-ray crystallography, electron microscopy, image analysis, etc. Societies with an interest in this conference include the American Crystallographic Association, American Society for Genetics, American Society for Microbiology, American Society for Virology, The Biophysical Society, American Society for Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, and the RNA Society.
12. Are you planning on submitting a similar application to another organization for additional funding and sponsorship? If yes, please clarify.
No
5 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Provide the following information for the key personnel and other significant contributors. Follow this format for each person. DO NOT EXCEED FOUR PAGES.
NAME POSITION TITLE Spies, Maria Associate Professor of Biochemistry eRA COMMONS USER NAME MARIA_SPIES EDUCATION/TRAINING (Begin with baccalaureate or other initial professional education, such as nursing, and include postdoctoral training.) DEGREE INSTITUTION AND LOCATION YEAR(s) FIELD OF STUDY (if applicable) St. Petersburg State Polytechnic University, St. B.S. 1994 Physics/biophysics Petersburg, Russia St. Petersburg State Polytechnic University, St. M.S. 1996 Biophysics Petersburg, Russia Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka, Japan Ph.D. 2000 Biological Sciences University of California, Davis, CA, USA Post-doc 2000-2005 Biochemistry/biophysics
A. Personal Statement: Work in my lab focuses on the molecular machines supporting genetic integrity, DNA recombination and repair. We strive to build a coherent mechanistic description of the composite cellular pathways that depend on the activities of DNA helicases. Specifically, we aim to define how these enzymes are integrated into the DNA repair and maintenance machines through a network of molecular associations and posttranslational modifications. The ultimate goal of our research is to go beyond deciphering the fundamental molecular mechanisms of the enzymes, proteins, and macromolecular ensembles orchestrating DNA repair to find an Achilles’ heel in their mechanism of action or malfunction. This will enable us to contribute to an emerging generation of targeted therapies aimed at attacking specific aspects of cancer and aging-related diseases. Helicases have represented an important part of my research endeavors for the last 13 years. As a postdoc with Stephen Kowalczykowski I used biochemical and single-molecule reconstitutions of the initial steps of bacterial recombination initiated by RecBCD helicase/nuclease. My own lab has been successful in broadening the scope of state-of-the-art single-molecule approaches to study activity and regulation of a number of DNA repair helicases whose defects and dysregulation are linked to genome instability, cancer and aging. I was also an editor for the book on “DNA helicases and DNA motor proteins” published by Springer in 2013. B. Positions and Honors: Positions: July 2012 - Associate Professor of Biochemistry, Department of Biochemistry, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA 2009-2012 Early Career Scientist, Howard Hughes Medical Institute 2009-2012 Assistant Professor of Medical Biochemistry College of Medicine, University of Illinois 2006-2012 Affiliate, Center for Biophysics and Computational Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign, Urbana, IL 2005-2012 Assistant Professor of Biochemistry Department of Biochemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 2000-2005 Postdoctoral Fellow with Dr. Stephen C. Kowalczykowski Department of Microbiology, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA 1996-2000 Graduate student with Dr. Seiki Kuramitsu Department of Biology, Graduate School of Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka, Japan 1994-1996 Masters thesis research with Dr. Vladislav Lanzov St. Petersburg State Polytechnic University, St. Petersburg, Russia and Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute, Gatchina, St. Petersburg, Russia 1993-1996 Research technical assistant Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute, Gatchina, St. Petersburg, Russia Oct.-Dec. 1995 Visiting Researcher Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Technical University of Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany. Honors: 2010 Margaret Oakley Dayhoff Award in Biophysics (Biophysical Society) 2009 Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) 2009 Early Career Scientist Award 2009-2013 American Cancer Society Research Scholar 2002-2005 American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow. 1996-2000 Japanese Government (MONBUSHO) Graduate Scholarship 1996 Graduated cum laude from St. Petersburg State Polytechnic University (Master of Technical Sciences “Red” Diploma) 1995 St. Petersburg Administration 1995 Student Research Award
C. Selected peer-reviewed publications full list is available at http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=zD-FavIAAAAJ&hl=en Most relevant to the current application (in chronological order) 1. Spies, M.*, Bianco, P.R., Dillingham, M.S., Handa, N., Baskin, R.J., and Kowalczykowski, S.C.‡, A molecular throttle: The recombination hotspot, , controls DNA translocation by the RecBCD helicase. (2003) Cell, 114: 647-654. [PMID: 16041060] 2. Honda, M.*, Park, J., Pugh R.A., Ha, T. ‡ and Spies, M.‡, Single-molecule analysis reveals differential effect of ssDNA-binding proteins on DNA translocation by XPD helicase. (2009) Molecular Cell, 35 (5), 694-703. [PMID: 19748362; PMCID: PMC2776038] 3. Pugh, R.A., Wu, C.G., and Spies, M.‡ Regulation of translocation polarity by helicase domain 1 in SF2B helicases (2012) EMBO J. 31(2):503-514 [PMID: 22081110; PMCID: PMC3261565] 4. Masuda-Ozawa, T.*, Hoang, T., Seo, Y-S., Chen, L-F. and Spies, M.‡, Single-molecule sorting reveals how ubiquitylation affects substrate recognition and activities of FBH1 helicase. (2013) NAR, 41(6), 3576-3587. [PMID: 23393192; PMCID: PMC3616717] featured article 5. Qi, Z., Pugh, R.A., Spies, M., and Chemla, Y.R., Sequence-dependent base-pair stepping dynamics in XPD helicase unwinding (2013) eLife 2:e00334 [PMID: 23741615; PMCID: PMC3668415] Additional 10 recent publications of importance to the field (in chronological order) 6. Dillingham, M.S.*, Spies, M., and Kowalczykowski, S.C‡., RecBCD enzyme is a bipolar DNA helicase. (2003) Nature, 423(6942): 893-897. [PMID: 12815438] 7. Spies, M.*, and Kowalczykowski, S. C.‡, The RecA-binding locus of RecBCD enzyme defines a generalized domain for recruitment of DNA strand exchange proteins. (2006) Molecular Cell, 21: 573-580. [PMID: 16483938] 8. Spies, M.*, Amitani, I., Baskin, R.J., and Kowalczykowski, S. C.‡ Translocation by single-molecules of a RecBCD motor mutant reveals a switch in motor subunit usage at . (2007) Cell 131: 694-705. [PMID: 18022364; PMCID: PMC2151923] 9. Rothenberg, E.*, Grimme, J. M., Spies, M.‡ and Ha, T.‡, Rad52 protein mediates directionally biased homology search and DNA annealing through continuous association of two Rad52-ssDNA complexes. (2008) PNAS 105 (51) 20274-20279. [PMID: 19074292; PMCID: PMC2629295] 10. Pugh, R. A.*, Honda, M., Leesley, H., Thomas, A., Lin, Y., Nilges, M. J., Cann, I. K., and Spies, M. The Iron-containing Domain Is Essential in Rad3 Helicases for Coupling of ATP Hydrolysis to DNA Translocation and for Targeting the Helicase to the Single-stranded DNA-Double-stranded DNA Junction. (2008) J Biol Chem, 283: 1732-1743. [PMID: 18029358] 11. Pugh, R. A.*, Lin, Y., Eller C., Leesley H., Cann, I. K.O., and Spies, M. Ferroplasma acidarmanus RPA2 facilitates efficient unwinding of forked DNA substrates by monomers of XPD helicase. (2008) JMB 383(5): 982-98. [PMID: 18801373] 12. Grimme JM*, Honda M*, Wright R, Okuno Y, Rothenberg E, Mazin AV, Ha T and Spies, M. ‡, Human Rad52 binds and wraps single-stranded DNA and mediates annealing via two hRad52-ssDNA complexes. (2010) NAR 38 (9), 2917-2930. [PMID: 20081207; PMCID: PMC2875008] 13. Honda, M.*, Okuno, Y., Yoo, J., Ha, T. and Spies, M.‡, Tyrosine phosphorylation enhances RAD52- mediated annealing by modulating its DNA binding. (2011) EMBO J., 30 (16), 3368-3382. [PMID: 21804533; PMCID: PMC3160658] 14. Haghighat Jahromi, A., Honda, M., Zimmerman, S.C., and Spies, M. ‡, Single molecule study of the CUG repeat･MBNL1 interaction and its inhibition by small molecules (2013) NAR, 41 (13): 6687- 6697. [PMID: 23661680; PMCID: PMC3711446] 15. Subramanyam, S., Jones, W.T., Spies, M.‡, and Spies, M.A‡., Contributions of the RAD51 N-terminal domain to BRCA2-RAD51 interaction (2013) NAR in press [PMID: in progress; PMCID: in progress (* lead authors; ‡corresponding authors)
D. Research support 2012- University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine Start-up funds 2013-2014 Small-molecule inhibitors of RAD52 protein through combined HTS and CADD PI: Spies Source: University of Iowa CCOM and UIHTS Pilot grant Major Goals: To identify a set of validated small-molecule inhibitors or RAD52 that can be used as scaffolds for lead development and optimization of potent inhibitors of RAD52 DNA repair protein. 2013-2018 Human DNA Replication Machines: Structure-Function of Polymerase Alpha-Primase PI: Tahirov (UNMC) Project Number: 1 R01 GM101167-01A1 Source: NIH Major Goals: to determine the structural basis of human primase-pol alpha complex function and reveal the biological consequences of alterations in this complex Completed support: 2009-2012 Early Career Scientist Award Spies (PI) Molecular machines of DNA recombination and repair Howard Hughes Medical Institute Major Goals: to develop biophysical and single-molecule techniques to visualize dynamics, movement and interactions within molecular machines of DNA repair. Role: PI 2009-2013 Research Scholar Grant Spies (PI) RSG-09-182-01 C6171 RAD52 protein: molecular mechanism and potential as an anticancer target Source: American Cancer Society Major Goals: Correlate the molecular mechanism of human RAD52 to its function at various steps of homology-directed DNA repair through mechanistic dissection of its structural and mechanistic attributes. Role: PI Pending support 2013-2018 Regulation of unwinding and remodeling activities in FeS-DNA helicases PI: Spies Project Number: 1R01GM108617-01 Source: NIH Major Goals: to determine the mechanism by which the domain mobility controls the activities of three FeS helicases, XPD, FANCJ and RTEL1. 2014-2016 Small-molecule inhibitors of RAD52 protein through combined HTS and CADD PI: Spies Project Number: 1 R21 CA184673-01 Source: NIH Major Goals: To identify a set of validated small-molecule inhibitors or RAD52 that can be used as scaffolds for lead development and optimization of potent inhibitors of RAD52 DNA repair protein. 2013-2018 Coordination of replication and repair after DNA damage PI: Wold (U. Iowa) Role: Co-PI Project Number: 1 R01 GM108637-01 Source: NIH Major Goal is to understand the regulation of fork restart and DNA repair during S phase. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Provide the following information for the key personnel and other significant contributors. Follow this format for each person. DO NOT EXCEED FOUR PAGES.
NAME POSITION TITLE Weis, Karsten Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology eRA COMMONS USER NAME karstenweis EDUCATION/TRAINING (Begin with baccalaureate or other initial professional education, such as nursing, and include postdoctoral training.) DEGREE INSTITUTION AND LOCATION YEAR(s) FIELD OF STUDY (if applicable) Phillips University Marburg (Germany) Diploma 1992 Molecular Biology EMBL Heidelberg and Philipps University Ph.D. 1996 Molecular/Cell Biology Marburg (Germany)
A. Personal Statement Over the years, my lab has studied the nucleo-cytoplasmic transport of macromolecules in eukaryotic cells with the overall goal to understand how eukaryotes take advantage of their high degree of compartmentalization to regulate their gene expression programs at a post-transcriptional level. We have made significant contributions to the field including the first identifications and characterizations of both protein import and export receptors, or the demonstration of a protein gradient of the small GTPase Ran within cells. More recently, we have particularly focused on the problems of how mRNAs mature and are transported through the nuclear pore. Our work on mRNA processing has led us to detailed studies of various DEAD box helicases including Dbp5 and Dhh1. For example, we have identified the role of Dhh1 in mRNA turnover and discovered the mechanism of how Dbp5 is regulated by its cellular co-factors. I have broad training in cell biology, yeast genetics, molecular biology and biochemistry and have gained extensive experience with a broad range of methods and approaches including – but not limited to – development and application of single molecule imaging methods, RNA and protein biochemistry or structural biology. Most recently, we have developed single molecule assays to study the function of RNA helicases in mRNA transport.
B. Positions and Honors Positions and Employment 1990 Summer Studentship at EMBL, Heidelberg, Germany 1991 Summer Studentship at Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Genetics, Berlin, Germany 1992 Diploma Thesis Project at EMBL, Heidelberg, Germany Supervisors: Prof. Angus I. Lamond & Prof. Reinhard Lührmann (Marburg) 1993 - 1996 Ph.D. student at EMBL, Heidelberg, Germany Supervisors: Prof. Angus I. Lamond 1996 - 1998 UCSF Fellow (Independent Group Leader) Dept. of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco 1999 - 2003 Assistant Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Berkeley 2003 - 2006 Associate Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Berkeley 2006 - present Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Berkeley Honors and Awards 1989 - 1996 Fellow of the German National Foundation for Studies ("Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes") 1993 - 1995 Ph.D. Fellowship of the Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds 1995 - 1996 Ph.D. Fellowship of the EMBL Ph.D. Program 1996 Summa Cum Laude Ph.D. graduate, Marburg University 1998 Phillips University Award (for outstanding Ph.D. dissertation) 2000 Searle Scholar 2002 Hellman Faculty Fund Award 2005 – present Associate Editor, Molecular Biology of the Cell Member of the Editorial Board for BMC Cell Biology and Chromosoma 2006 Early Career Life Scientist Award of the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) 2012-present Member of the Board of Reviewing Editors, eLife
C. Selected Peer-reviewed Publications (Selected from 56 peer-reviewed publications)
1. Stade, K., Ford, C.F., Guthrie, C. and Weis, K. (1997) "Exportin 1 (Crm1p) is an essential nuclear export factor". Cell 90, 1041-1050. 2. Nachury, M.V. and Weis, K. (1999) The direction of transport through the nuclear pore can be inverted. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 96, 9622-9627. 3. Nachury, M.V., Maresca, T.J., Salmon, W.C., Waterman-Storer, C.M., Heald, R. and Weis, K. (2001) Importin is a mitotic target of the small GTPase Ran in spindle assembly. Cell, 104, 95–106 4. Kalab, P., Weis, K., Heald, R. (2002) Visualization of a RanGTP Gradient in Interphase and Mitotic Xenopus Egg Extracts. Science, 295, 2452-2456. 5. Weirich, C.S., Erzberger, J.P., Berger, J.M., Weis, K. (2004) The N-terminal domain of Nup159 forms a -propeller that functions in mRNA export by tethering the helicase Dbp5 to the nuclear pore. Molecular Cell,16, 749-760. 6. Blower, M.D., Nachury, M.V., Heald, R. and Weis, K. (2005) A Rae1-containing ribonucleoprotein complex is required for mitotic spindle assembly. Cell, 121: 223-234. 7. Kalab, P., Pralle, A., Isacoff, E.Y., Heald, R. and Weis, K. (2006) Analysis of a RanGTP-regulated gradient in somatic cells. Nature, 440:697-701. 8. Weirich, C.S., Erzberger, J.P., Flick, JS, Berger, J.M., Thorner, J. and Weis, K. (2006) Local Activation of the DExD/H-box protein Dbp5 by the nuclear pore protein Gle1 and its coactivator inositol hexakisphosphate is required for mRNA export. Nature Cell Biol, 8, 668-676. 9. Onischenko, E., Stanton, L.H., Madrid, A.S., Kieselbach, T. and Weis, K. (2009) Role of the Ndc1- interaction network in yeast nuclear pore complex assembly and maintenance. J Cell Biol, 185, 475- 91. 10. Dossani Z.Y., Weirich C.S., Erzberger J.P., Berger J.M., Weis K. (2009) Structure of the C-terminus of the mRNA export factor Dbp5 reveals the interaction surface for the ATPase activator Gle1. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A., 106:16251-6. 11. Lowe, A.R., Siegel, J.J., Kalab, P., Siu, M., Weis, K. and Liphardt, J.T. (2010) Selectivity Mechanism of the Nuclear Pore Complex Characterized by Single Cargo Tracking. Nature, 467:600-3. 12. Montpetit, B., Thomsen, N.D., Helmke, K.J., Seeliger, M.A., Berger, J.M. and Weis, K. (2011). A
conserved mechanism of DEAD-box ATPase activation by nucleoporins and IP6 in mRNA export. Nature, 472:238-42. 13. Carroll, J.S., Munchel, S.E. and Weis, K. (2011) The DExD/H box ATPase Dhh1 functions in translational repression, mRNA decay and P body dynamics J Cell Biol, 194:527-37. PMID: 21844211. 14. Munchel, S.E., Shultzaberger, R.K., Takizawa, N. and Weis, K. (2011) Dynamic profiling of mRNA turnover reveals gene-specific and system-wide regulation of mRNA decay. Mol Biol Cell, 22:2787-95. PMID: 21680716. 15. Andersen K.R., Onischenko E., Tang J.H., Kumar P., Chen J.Z., Ulrich A., Liphardt J.T., Weis K, Schwartz T.U. Scaffold nucleoporins Nup188 and Nup192 share structural and functional properties with nuclear transport receptors. Elife. 2013 Jun 11;2:e00745. doi: 10.7554/eLife.00745. Print 2013.
(Corresponding authors are underlined)
D. RESEARCH SUPPORT Ongoing Research Support
NIH R01 GM058065 09/98-3/17 Weis, K., P.I. “Structure and function of the nuclear pore complex”
NIH R01 GM101257 08/13-07/17 Weis, K., P.I. “Mechanisms of gene-specific and genome-wide regulation of mRNA turnover”
Completed Research Support
NIH 1 RC1 GM091533 09/09-08/11 Weis, K., P.I. Challenge grant entitled "Posttranscriptional regulation of gene expression in eukaryotes"
NIH 1 R01 GM065232 07/08-06/12 Weis, K., and Heald, R. co-P.I.s "Studying the Role of Ran in Mitosis"
NIH 1 S10 RR027696 05/10-05/11 Weis, K., P.I. Shared equipment grant entitled "Spinning disk confocal microscope for the University of California, Berkeley”
Helicases & Nucleic Acid Translocases: Stucture, Mechanism, Function, & Roles in Hum... Page 1 of 6
Course Evaluation 2011 Summer Research Conferences Helicases & Nucleic Acid Translocases: Stucture, Print Mechanism, Function, & Forms Roles in Human Diseases presented 07/31/2011 80 forms submitted
Section 1 - Scientific Content
General Sessions
The most important areas of current active research were adequately discussed. 4.5
There was a sufficient amount of unpublished research presented. 4.2 The conference helped you generate new ideas for research. 4.5
There was adequate time provided for invited presentations and short talks selected from submitted abstracts. 4.5
The discussion periods were utilized effectively. 4.4
Poster Sessions
The time allocated for poster sessions was effective. 4.3 I am satisfied with the contribution of the poster sessions to the conference. 4.3
Scientific Content - Overall
Overall, I am satisfied with the scientific content. 4.6
What kinds of sessions would you like to see included at future conferences?
z Try to include some more invited speakers from RNA helicases field.
z I thought the sessions were a bit heavy on structural biology and a bit light on more biological approaches than the ideal balance.
z increased emphasis on cell biology and integration of biochem/structural aspects with cell biology.
z The session seemed a bit random - all interesting talks but could have been better organized thematically. perhaps a better intro by session chairs might have helped
z More biology and a little less mechanistic detail of how the enzymes work
z Perhaps a bit more on biological function of helicases.
z more conferences about DEAD-box RNA Helicases
z perhaps more session on biology
http://faseb.planion.com/Planion.Evals/ZZHWPBUU4Z?ACCOUNT=FASEB&CONF=S... 9/20/2011 Helicases & Nucleic Acid Translocases: Stucture, Mechanism, Function, & Roles in Hum... Page 2 of 6
z Helicases and translocases in Genome Maintenance and Replication
z Physical mechanism- biophysics
z more about biological roles for helicases
Section 2 - Management
Program Management & Organization
How satisfied were you with the coordination and organization of the scientific program? 4.6
How satisfied were you the representation of international scientists in this field participating? 4.6
How satisfied were you with the conference materials provided? 4.6
Did you feel the length of conference sessions were too long, just about right, or too short? 2.3
Logistics Management & Organization
How satisfied were you with the registration and abstract submission process? 4.5
How satisfied were you with the information found on the FASEB SRC website and from emails sent by the FASEB SRC Office? 4.3
Overall Management & Organization
The conference was well organized. 4.7
Conference onsite staff member was helpful and courteous. 4.7
Overall, I was satisfied with the conference facilities. 4.7
Where would you like to see future SRCs take place?
z Europe
z Steamboat Springs is an excellent venue
z Steamboat is good. Snowmass is also good. I would not attend meetings where the housing is in student dorms (as in Vermont).
z Carribean
z YES
z I don't like round tables. I really liked that posters were up for the entire meeting.
z Steamboat Springs was an excellent venue, stay there...
z Steamboat Springs
z interesting cities and/or beautiful country like Steamboat Springs
z East cost, Europe
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z This site is better than most, although it is a long way from Denver. Makes for a long journey for the Europeans
z Steamboat Springs
z Steamboat is a good site for this conference
z Steamboat
z In a less isolated one than Steamboat (a bit too far away from Europe!)
z For people arriving from Europe, the trip to Colorado is quite expensive. Sites nearer the east or west coast should be considered.
z In Paris
z The 3.5 hr drive from the Denver airport was very long. I would like to see a site closer to a major airport.
z Europe
z Same place (Steamboat Springs). Also possible Bahamas site and Tuscany site.
z Tuscany
z steamboat
z steamboat was awesome
z at a place easier to reach
Overall, how would you rate the FASEB SRC Staffs' professionalism and responsiveness to your questions and concerns? 4.6
Comments:
z 1. Avoid making major changes to tentative overall schedule. 2. Send out the final schedule much earlier than 2-3 weeks before the meeting to allow for sufficient time to make travel plans. 3. If the meeting is being held at a location served by only a few flights in a day (like the case was at Steamboat Springs), some recommendations for choice of flight times can be provided to streamline travel plans with the conference schedule.
z the SRC online driving directions to the conference stopped with arrival at Steamboat Springs - addition of directions to the hotel itself would have saved us some time/confusion.
z At some coastal areas.
z Nan at Steamboat Springs was fantastic- very helpful courteous and a great sense of humor.
z i would like to thank organizers for having chosen such wonderful place for this congers, furthermore it is not easy to organize a congers of this importance, so Congratulation great job!!! this congers was amazing not only for the quality of confernces but also for everything.
Section 3 - General Information
Approximately how many conferences of this type do you attend annually?
1-2 per year: 53 (69.7%) 3-4 per year: 15 (19.7%)
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Don't usually attend conferences: 3 (3.9%) 5-6 per year: 3 (3.9%) More than 6 per year: 2 (2.6%)
Do you plan to attend this conference again in 2 or 3 years?
Yes: 74 (92.5%) No: 6 (7.5%)
Would you recommend this conference to others?
Yes: 76 (97.4%) No: 1 (1.3%) Not Sure: 1 (1.3%)
How would you rate this conference compared to other conferences of this type that you have attended? 4.5
How did you learn of this conference?
By Invitation: 30 (37.5%) Co-Worker: 29 (36.2%) Internet: 13 (16.2%) Other (please specify): 4 (5%) FASEB Emails: 2 (2.5%) FASEB Mailings: 2 (2.5%) Experimental Biology/Neuroscience/Cell Biology: 0 (0%) FASEB Journal: 0 (0%)
Please indicate your age group:
30's: 23 (29.1%) 40's: 22 (27.8%) 50's: 15 (19%) 20's: 14 (17.7%) 60's: 5 (6.3%) 70's: 0 (0%)
In what ways could this conference be improved?
z To my opinion, it's better to end sessions at 6-7 o'clock, since many participants from Europe are too tired because of jet-lag.
z Eliminate Friday morning session, move Thursday evening session to Thursday afternoon and have social activity Thursday evening after dinner.
z Increase interactivity of speakers with all participants. Increase the atmosphere of open discussion and active interest in devloping discussion groups.
z It would be more beneficial for junior scientists (students and post-docs) if "meet the experts" session is more structured. At least, the experts should be requested to be more available to talk to students rather than talking to their senior colleagues.
z Please cancel the Friday morning session, because it makes traveling East very difficult, especially for the European
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participants.
z Perhaps a few evenings with poster sessions instead of talks, and talks in the afternoon
z Move poster sessions to the evening (rather than afternoon where they conflict with free-time activities). Schedule a full day for the final day, with departure in the morning (Friday morning talks conflicted with shuttle schedule to the airport, which was unfortunate for the speakers).
z as noted above, the balance between structural biology (less) and biology (more) could be altered.
z The last session was same day as departures, making it hectic and poorly attended. In the future, strongly advice not to have last session in the morning before departures.
z FASEB should delete the friday morning session form all of their conferences, attendance at the last orphaned morning sessions is typically poor. Many attendees must leave early to return to the East coast or Europe. End the conference with the Thursday evening session - maybe even have a meaningful last night banquet.
Also, move all of the evening sessions to PRECEDE dinner. You might also move dinner to a later time, such as 7:00 to accomdate the preceding session. After dinner, there can be the poster seesion and informal discussion time, with a cash bar. As it is now, some people are just too tired to sit through sessions that run late into the evening...
z more scholarships for international grad students/postdocs. mid-morning coffee breaks outside when possible....
z Evening sessions that end past 10:00 PM are a killer. The FASEB template should be a morning session, followed by an afternoon session that starts at 3:00 PM or 3:30 PM followed by dinner followed by the poster session.
z The evening sessions ended too late and this was particularly difficult for people from Europe with a terrible jetlag
z As I indicated above, more biology of the roles of helicases (including disease biology)and less protein mechanism.
z For European visitors the first evening session (keynote talk) started unnecessarily late
z Food was okay, but not outstanding.
z There should NOT be a session on Friday morning, and the meeting should finish with a social event on Thursday evening
z Move the evening sessions to the afternoon. Drop the session on Friday a.m. Get rid of the circular tables in the meeting room.
z Not really - it was the best meeting on this topic that I've attended for years.
z set date earlier
z Because the site was so far from a major airport the sessions on the last day were poorly attended. I suggest not having talks on the last morning, or moving the site closer to the airport.
z should be advertised more extensively
z Eliminate Friday session. Shorten talks a bit.
z The evening sessions go too long/too late, especially for all the scientists coming from overseas. It would also be nice to have one night free from talks and put a social mixer in its place.
z Eliminate Fri session. Move dinner later to have session in later afternoon. Poster session/bar after dinner.
z The Shuttle service from the airport to Steamboat were of inconvenient timing. Hence, some have to miss the session in the morning on the last day. It will be good if the organizers can cater a bus to send participants to the airport.
z No Friday
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Morning session
z Eliminate the Friday morning session. Have an extra talk each previous day instead.
z the emphasis was heave on DNA helicases and mechanism, in the future RNA and DNA helicases could be more equally represented, more emphasis on biological roles could be given
z Encourage more students to attend.
z Having a less cramped area for posters would be better. An event of some description on the last night i.e dinner
z FASEB should eliminate the Friday morning scientific session. The attendance is poor, as it is impossible to get a flight back to the East coast in time if one attends the session. Speakers in that session feel like they are being punished.
The food at the Steamboat Springs site was absolutely awful.
z The evening sessions went on too late and the friday morning session should be deleted. The arrangement for the Genetic Recombination meeting the week before was far superior.
z Leave out the "Meet the expert" session on Wed and make it shorter since Fri morning session was poorly attended.
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FASEB Summer Conference - Helicases and Nucleic Acid Translocases: Stucture, Mechanisms, Function and Roles in Human Diseases
Steamboat Springs, Colorado – July 31 – August 5, 2011
Organizers: Eckhard Jankowsky and James Keck
Our 2011 meeting, Helicases and Nucleic Acid Translocases: Stucture, Mechanisms, Function and Roles in Human Diseases, was held at the Steamboat Grand Resort in Steamboat Springs, Colorado from July 31st to August 5th.Helicases and translocases are essential proteins that remodel the structures of nucleic acids. These processes are obligatory to all cellular information transactions, including DNA replication, DNA repair, DNA recombination, transcription, ribosome biogenesis, translation, RNA splicing, RNA editing, RNA transport, RNA degradation, bacterial conjugation, chromosome segregation and viral packaging/unpackaging. A number of inherited human diseases are caused by defects in specific helicases. Moreover, helicase defects are associated with genomic instability that result in increased incidences of cancer and numerous RNA helicases have been linked to tumorigenesis as well. Many viruses also encode helicases that play key roles in viral life cycles and viral helicases are therefore attractive targets for antiviral therapy. As our meeting, novel discoveries in helicase and translocase research were presented by established and emerging leaders in the field. In total, the meeting had 100 participants.
Our meeting started with a 1-hour Keynote address the first evening by Stephen Kowalczykowski. Nine thematically organized sessions followed over the next five days. These session included 38 invited talks (30 minutes each with Q&A) and 14 short talks selected from submitted abstracts (15 minutes with Q&A). Sixteen of the 52 speakers and 5 of the session 9 chairs were women. Twentythree of the 52 speakers (44%) had not presented at the previous two helicase/translocase meetings in 2009 (in Europe) or in 2007 (FASEB).The short talks selected from the abstracts were generally presented by early-career scientists, including assistant professors, post-doctoral fellows and graduate students. Overall, 27% of the talks for the final program were selected from submitted abstracts.
The nine sessions and keynote address highlighted current research in DNA helicases, RNA helicases, translocases, and related ATP-dependent molecular motors. Thesessions were entitled: Physical Mechanisms of Helicases and Translocases I and II (two sessions), Chromatin Structure and Remodeling, Helicases in Post-Transcriptional Regulation of Gene Expression, Helicases in Multi-Component Assemblies I and II (two sessions), Helicases in Cancer and Aging, Helicases and Translocases in Viral Replication, Helicases and Translocases in Genome Maintenance and Replication. Five of the sessions were heldin the mornings with the remaining 4 in the evenings. This arrangement left the afternoons open for informal discussions, 2 poster sessions and a Meet-the-Experts session.
The poster sessions included 40 posters presented by graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and faculty. These were thematically mixed and very well attended. The Meet- the-Experts session was held in conjunction with a semi-open bar (two drink tickets were provided to each attendee). This session was enormously successful, with many lively conversations occurring in groups of 3-10. Overall, the intimate nature of the poster and Meet-the-Experts sessions created an inclusive atmosphere that fostered significant dialog among all attendees.
Funding in support of the meeting was obtained from FASEB ($10,000), the Eliison Foundation ($10,000), the National Institute of Aging (NIH, $3,000) and the Fanconi Anemia Research Fund ($2,000). These funds were used to support on-site activities, including coffee breaks in the evening sessions and drink tickets for the Meet-the-Expert session. In addition, these funds were used to defray travel and registration fees for invited speakers (~25% of the costs for each speaker).
At the end of the morning session on Thursday, August 4, we held a business meeting to discuss future meetings. Attendees unanimously supported continuing the meeting in 2015 (a European meeting on the same topics is being planned during the Summer of 2013). Two new organizers were elected to put together this future meeting, Assistant Professor Maria Spies (University of Illinois/HHMI) and Professor Karsten Weis (University of California, Berkeley). Both organizers presented at this year’s meeting and have had major impacts in the study of helicases and translocases. After selection of future organizers, the meeting attendees were asked their opinion of where the next meeting should take place. Steamboat Springs was chosen as the top choice. Second and third place sites were Tuscany, Italy and Niagra Falls, NY, respectively. Tuscany may not be ideal as the major helicase/translocase meeting has traditionally oscillated between Europe and the US.
In summary, the co-organizers felt that this meeting was a terrific success! We are greatly looking forward to the next FASEB helicase/translocase meeting in 2015!
James L. Keck, PhD, co-organizer and Eckhard Jankowsky, PhD, co-organizer Helicases and Nucleic-Acid Based Machines: From Mechanism to Insight into Disease Function & Roles in Human Diseases Comparison of Previous Conferences
ATTENDANCE FUNDING # of # of Year Applicants Participants Commercial Non-Commerical Government Total Raised 2001 145 137 $ 17,500.00 $ 22,200.00 $ 39,700.00 2003 106 102 $ 11,000.00 $ 5,000.00 $ 16,000.00 2007 129 122 $ 8,500.00 $ 5,000.00 $ 13,500.00 2011 98 $ 12,000.00 $ 3,000.00 $ 15,000.00 Helicases & Nucleic Acid Translocases: Structure, Mechanism, Function, & Roles in Human Diseases Past Conference Organizers
Year Name Affiliation 2001 Sandra K. Weller Univ. of Connecticut Hlth. Ctr. Steven W. Matson Univ. of North Carolina
2003 Anna Marie Pyle Columbia Univ./HHMI. Smita Patel Robert Wood Johnson Med. Sch
2007 Timothy Lohman Washington Univ. School of Medicine James Berger UC Berkeley
University of Wisconsin School of 2011 James L. Keck Medicine and Public Health Case Western Research University Eckhard Jankowsky School of Medicine Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
— Quality Life Through Research — Member Societies The American Physiological Society January 15, 2010
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Dr. James Keck American Society for Investigative Pathology Univ. of Wisconsin School of Medicine & Public Health
American Society for Nutrition 550 Medical Sciences Center
The American Association of 1300 University Ave. Immunologists Madison, WI 53706 American Association of Anatomists
The Protein Society Re Proposal #: 11-03
Society for Developmental Biology
American Peptide Society Dear Dr. Keck:
Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities We would like to thank you for submitting a proposal for the 2011 FASEB
The American Society for Bone and Summer Research Conference series. After careful consideration by the Mineral Research Advisory Committee, the proposal entitled, "Helicases & Nucleic Acid American Society for Clinical Translocases: Stucture, Mechanism, Function, & Roles in Human Investigation Diseases" has been fully approved. Society for the Study of Reproduction Teratology Society The committee requests that you make every effort to include young The Endocrine Society investigators (poster presentation or a short talk) as early as possible within The American Society of Human the conference agenda. This will have an enormous impact on one’s Genetics experience at the conference. This will also allow other participants to learn Society for Gynecologic Investigation early on about their work and will then greatly increase interaction.
Environmental Mutagen Society
International Society for During the recent review of the submitted proposals, the members of the Computational Biology Summer Research Conferences Advisory Committee decided that American College of Sports Medicine beginning in 2011, all conferences are to incorporate a “Meet the Experts” Biomedical Engineering Society session into the program. This will allow the young investigators the
opportunity to interact and network with the experts they admire. Planning
details will be shared with you as we get further into the organizing of your conference.
We will soon begin the process of developing the conference schedule and ______will let you know the location and date of your conference as soon as this Guy Fogleman, Ph.D. Executive Director has been decided. Please keep in mind, location and date preferences are Office of Scientific Meetings and not guaranteed however we do our best to give you your first choice. In Conferences February, an Organizer Manual will be posted at our website Marcella Jackson, CMP Director (http://src.faseb.org) to assist you in your conference planning efforts.
9650 Rockville Pike Bethesda, Maryland 20814-3998 Please be aware that by agreeing to be an Organizer/Co-organizer of a Telephone 301-634-7010 FAX 301-634-7014 FASEB Summer Research Conference, that should you decided to cancel Email: [email protected] the conference for any reason, you will be held responsible for any fees http://www.faseb.org/meetings/ related to the cancellation (i.e., fees charged by the host location). Dr. Keck Page 2
The Summer Research Conferences have been very successful over the years due to the commitment and dedication of the Organizers. On behalf of the Federation and the Summer Research Conferences Advisory Committee, your efforts in contributing to the success of the program are sincerely appreciated. A copy of this letter has also been sent to your co- organizer(s).
Please do not hesitate to contact me by telephone at (301) 634-7093 or via email [email protected] should you have any questions. We look forward to working with you on this project over the next few years.
Sincerely,
Julie Levin Conference Manager FASEB Summer Research Conferences Levin, Julie
From: Eckhard Jankowsky [[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, December 15, 2009 10:19 AM To: Levin, Julie Subject: Re: 2011 FASEB Summer Research Conferences
Dear Julie,
thanks for your reminder. Here is the info you requested re. past EMBo Helicase meetings.
Attendance and funding for past EMBO Helicase meetings:
2009 | Les Diablerets: 121 participants Budget for 2009: Overall: 146.5 CHF Registration fees: 90k CHF, Sponsors including EMBO: 45k CHF + 11.5k to come
2005 | Arolla: 150 participants Budget for 2005: couldn't get exact info
On a different issue - we noticed that FASEB now has a second venue in Colorado (in addition to snowmass) - Steamboat Springs. Provided this venue is available for 2011, we would like to ask to have Steamboat Springs as our second choice (instead of Saxtons River).
So our venue preferences would be
1. Snowmass 2. Steamboat Springs 3. Saxtons River 4. Carefree
Many thanks for your time and consideration and best wishes
Eckhard Jankowsky
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