M-EID Events and Announcements

M-EID Forum

3rd Monday Forum of the month Trainees only, for student based discussion of programmatic issues, research and funding opportunities, seminar speakers and Scholars-in-Residence.

M-EID Journal Club

Departmental Events and Announcements

Out-of-Field Proposal Defense - “Molecular Genetic Approaches to Hippocampal Adult Neurogenesis”

Integrative Microbiology & Biochemistry Seminar Series

Presenter: Tim McDermott - Montana State University - "The Thermoacidophilic Algae Cyanidiales: Ecology, Biogeography, and Their Contribution to Biogeochemical Cycling in Geothermal Environments."

Math Colloquium Series: Algebraic Literacy - Empirical Tests of an Instructional Strategy

To advance in mathematics, students must develop fluency with algebraic computations. The development of computational fluency, however, is no easy task. Research suggests that an instructional focus on computations alone produces faulty performance and poor retention. On the other hand, holistic instructional approaches, focusing on computation and understanding, promise to improve students' success in algebra. In this presentation, I offer one holistic approach that defines algebraic understanding (and the goal of algebra instruction) in terms of six literacies. I then trace recent and ongoing efforts to gauge the impact of this approach on students' performance and understanding of algebra.

Upcoming Conferences -

Molecular Basis for Chromatin Modifications and Epigenetic Phenomena (D3)

Many chromatin modifications and structures are surprisingly dynamic, yet are involved in initiating and heritably maintaining distinct gene expression patterns that direct and preserve cellular identities. The molecules that target and regulate these modifications and how they influence—and may be influenced by—higher-order chromatin structures, nuclear organization, and various nuclear processes, are areas of intense interest and excitement. This meeting will examine the latest discoveries surrounding the molecular basis of chromatin modifications and explore their connections to various biological processes and epigenetic phenomena such as dosage compensation, imprinting, heterochromatin formation and gene expression in differentiation, development and disease. The goal is to promote a more integrated picture of the molecular interrelationships between chromatin structure and function that exercise the hidden regulatory information in the genomes of complex organisms.

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Molecular Evolution as a Driving Force in Infectious Diseases (D4)

Infectious diseases have been a key driving force in evolution, both of the hosts and the pathogens. The era of genomics has made it possible to evaluate both infectious agents and their hosts at the genomic level. The evolutionary dynamics of viruses, bacteria and parasites, in their adaptive evolution to changes in host response or adaptation to new hosts is enormously complex. The burden of infectious diseases on people and domestic animals is staggering. We are only now beginning to achieve an understanding of how infectious organisms cause disease and how the complex patterns of immune response generated by their infections mitigate it. By bringing together experts in the evolution of viruses, bacteria and parasites, plus those studying host adaptation and evolution of the immune response, we hope that this meeting will stimulate further interaction between widely disparate lines of investigation.

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