WashU Medicine Otolaryngology researcher and Associate Professor Lavinia Sheets and members of her lab recently attended the Gordon Research Conference on Mechanisms, Perception, and Restoration in the Auditory System.
The five-day conference was hosted at Stonehill College in Easton, Mass. July 19-24. Sheets served as a vice-chair for the event, which received financial support from WashU Medicine Otolaryngology. She will serve as co-chair for next year’s conference.
Postdoctoral researcher and Otolaryngology resident Prith Roychowdhury, MD, provided an invited talk on his work, “AMPA-Induced Excitotoxicity Evokes Afferent Ca2+ Surges and Macrophage Recruitment in the Zebrafish Lateral Line”. As a clinician, the opportunity to interact with basic scientists leading the field was a highlight of the experience.
“Being invited to speak as a trainee was quite an honor, and the discussions I had with researchers across basic and translational auditory neuroscience will directly inform our project’s next steps,” he said. “As a resident, it was exciting to hear where the field is heading and to bounce ideas off others about the translational possibilities of their work.”
WashU Medicine (DBBS) graduate student Jun Ikeda and Research Technician Tara Cerny presented posters on their research:
- “Mechanisms of Neurogenesis in the Developing Posterior Lateral Line Ganglion”
Tara Cerny, Mark Warchol and Lavinia Sheets - “Two Ways to Kill a Neuron: KillerRed and Monaco Laser Pulses Ablate Zebrafish Lateral Line Ganglion Cells”
Jun Ikeda, Tara Cerny, Mark Warchol and Lavinia Sheets
Stimulating scientific advancement through debate and discussion
Founded in 1931, Gordon Research Conferences now runs almost 400 international conferences each year across the spectrum of biological, chemical, physical and engineering sciences. Events are built around cutting-edge pre-published research.
Smaller and more focused, the events are unlike other academic conferences. Each conference is limited to 200 attendees, and scientists must apply and be selected by the conference chair to attend the meeting. All conferees are active participants in their community and contribute to moving the frontiers of the field forward. Extended discussion follows each talk and note-taking is discouraged so scientists can talk freely about their unpublished data.
Lasting impressions
For Sheets, the size and format of the conference provides attendees with an immeasurable experience of camaraderie and networking.
“It was an honor to serve as vice-chair of the Auditory Gordon Research Conference,” she said. “The conference was incredible, and I’m still receiving feedback from researchers about what a wonderful experience they had. A big thank you to the department for its generous support in making the meeting possible.”