FASEB Announces Catalyst Conferences for Early 2024

By: Brandon Corbett
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
FASEB announced three new Catalyst Conferences for 2024. Catalyst Conferences are one- or two-day virtual meetings intended to help foster communities in emerging areas of biology. They bring together biological researchers, postdocs, academics, PhD candidates, and grad school students, often in highly specialized disciplines. These conferences serve as the building blocks for exploring new research pathways and discoveries and can potentially become longer, in-person conferences called Science Research Conferences if there is enough interest in the topic. Additionally, one-day Catalyst Conferences are often followed by two-day conferences by organizers depending on the audience and potential for interest.  
 
Mechanisms and Function of Myonuclear Accretion will take place on February 13 and 14. This conference will focus on how muscle stem cells and myofibers communicate, coordinate, and prepare for fusion; the specialized cell-type specific fusion processes involved; the integration of their cellular components post-fusion; and the contribution of myonuclear accretion to skeletal muscle maintenance in health and disease. The conference is organized by Doug Millay, PhD, of the University of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and Anita Kneppers, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher at the Institut NeuroMyoGène in Lyon, France.  
 
Protein Arginine Methylation: Function and Therapeutics will take place on February 21 and 22. This two-day conference will explore new mechanisms in protein methylation and develop effective therapeutic strategies to harness their aberrant activities in pathogenesis. It will feature leaders in the transcription and epigenetics field from across the globe and will be especially relevant for early-career researchers, graduate students, and postdocs. The conference is organized by Rong Huang, PhD, of Purdue University and Jian Xu, PhD of the University of Southern California. It will feature several keynote speakers in this scientific field of study, including Mark Bedford, PhD, of the Anderson Cancer Center, and Ho-man Chan, PhD, of AstraZeneca.  
 
Recombination and Genome Editing in Plants will be held on March 5 and 6. This two-day conference will explore the role meiotic recombination plays within the context of crop improvement among the significant challenges that arise due to the majority of crossovers occurring in the terminal regions of chromosomes. Speakers will explore the potential to empower scientists in manipulating recombination and facilitating the creation of specific gene combinations needed for crop improvement. The conference is organized by Gaganpreet Sidhu, PhD, Research Director at Meiogenix Inc., and Professor at Cornell University.  
 
Each of the upcoming Catalyst Conferences through March is based on previous, shorter sessions that had exceptional responses and attendees, and indicated that there was a demand for a more in-depth discussion of these scientific disciplines. While the shorter conferences are usually free, these conferences require a small fee of $25 per registrant to offset the cost of producing two-day online conferences. To register for one of our Catalyst Conferences, visit faseb.org/Catalysts.  
 
If you’re interested in organizing your own Catalyst Conference, visit faseb.org/organize.