MBL Zebrafish Development and Development Course
Dear Colleague:
We are writing to you to help us identify outstanding trainees and young researchers who may benefit from the intensive Course on Zebrafish Development and Genetics at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. This year, this course will run from August 10 – August 23, 2014. Our goals for this two-week course are to provide students with a strong conceptual and experimental foundation on the use of Zebrafish for studying diverse aspects of development and disease. The course consists of extensive hands-on, cutting-edge experiments on advanced microscopy, cellular and gene manipulation genomics exercises and behavior, which take full advantage of the zebrafish model system. Importantly, many of the techniques are applicable to studying the development, function and disease state of many organ systems. Those who benefit the most are advanced predoctoral graduate students, postdoctoral trainees and faculty who have limited training using zebrafish as a model system. Please note that financial assistance is available for all students.
A hallmark of this course is the extensive hands-on work done in close collaboration with expert faculty. Every day, students are taught in small groups, or individually, time proven as well as novel technologies geared towards their application in zebrafish. Over the two-week period, the course logically proceeds from the earliest stages of zebrafish development through to the appearance of complex behaviors, incorporating techniques appropriate for those stages along the way. Techniques/topics include whole-mount RNA in situ hybridizations and antibody stainings, specimen mounting and imaging, including live cell imaging using state of the art confocal microscopes, RNA and antisense morpholino injections, cell transplantantion, cell fate lineage, tissue specific gene activation, tissue regeneration and behavioral assays to test visual and motor systems. Interspersed are several interactive round-table discussions, such as on mutagenesis screens, including TALENs, and on molecular-genetic mapping/positional cloning, which includes a web-based tutorial on mining the zebrafish genome. The evenings are devoted to discussions and lectures from the 18 expert faculties.
In addition to the outstanding training that students receive, the Woods Hole courses are an invaluable opportunity for establishing contacts and initiating collaborations. Many of the course faculties stay for an extended period of time, providing ample opportunity for the students to discuss novel research directions taken by researchers at the forefront of the zebrafish field, and the thinking behind their science.
Please help us by posting the enclosed poster and directing potential students to our website (http://www.mbl.edu/education/courses/special_topics/zebra.html). Application deadline is April 11, 2014. Application materials and more information can be obtained from Carol Hamel, Admissions Coordinator, MBL Education Office, (508-289-7401) or admissions@mbl.edu.
Sincerely,
Michael Granato, Ph.D. Corinne Houart, Ph.D.
Co-Director, Zebrafish Course Co-Director, Zebrafish Course
University of Pennsylvania King's College London
Department of Cell & Dev. Biology Centre for Developmental Neurobiology
Philadelphia, PA 19104 London SE1 1UL