Conference Description
The Centromere Biology GRS provides a unique forum for young doctoral and post-doctoral researchers to present their work, discuss new methods, cutting edge ideas, and pre-published data, as well as to build collaborative relationships with their peers. Experienced mentors and trainee moderators will facilitate active participation in scientific discussion to allow all attendees to be engaged participants rather than spectators.
The Centromere Biology GRS allows trainees the opportunity to present their work to their colleagues in a more intimate setting, before the main GRC in Centromere Biology, with constructive feedback and discussion. Our mentorship session this year will explore trainee career directions in science, from applying to postdocs and junior PI roles, to industry research and beyond.
The questions in the centromere biology field are evolving as rapidly as the centromeres themselves. Thomas Kuhn once stated, “the answers you get depend on the questions you ask”. How are centromeres and kinetochores structured? Are centromeres compatible? Why such rapidly evolving DNA sequences? We’ve come a long way since Walther Flemming first described these ‘primary constriction sites’ in the late 1800s. With exciting progress being made regarding the sequencing of repetitive regions, the structure of centromeric chromatin, and the dynamics of centromeric proteins; there is a constant impetus to ask the next, key questions.
The 2024 Centromere Biology Gordon Research Seminar will focus on the open questions of current centromere biology, the most pertinent questions going forward, and the model organisms best suited to answer those questions. This meeting will showcase the recent advances in the centromere biology field by new trainees, and provide a space to discuss these current and future directions.
