Scholars Crowned at FASEB Yeast Meeting!

The Carl Singer Foundation and the WCISM is proud to sponsor five outstanding young yeast biologists for the recent FASEB Yeast Chromosome Structure, Replication, and Segregation meeting in Steamboat Springs, USA. These five scholars were selected among hundreds of outstanding research abstracts, and were awarded with a rare opportunity to present their research findings on stage.

Being able to openly exchange ideas and share unpublished data is what is valuable for scientific researchers. At this prestigious yeast-specific meeting, three of the five CSF Scholars had the opportunity to present their work in front of a large group of audience for the first time in their young scientific career. It was a great occasion to stimulate new ideas, learn new techniques, and build new collaborations to accelerate research projects.

All of the Yeast Meeting delegates out in the sun!

Here are the five outstanding CSF Scholars and their fond memories of the conference:

Mr. Andrew Seeber at Friedrich Miescher Institute (Supervisor: Dr. Susan Gasser) for studying the interaction of MRX and RPA at stalled replication forks.

“I come from a European research group so being able to present to my United States colleagues who I would normally not encounter was certainly special.”

Ms. Isabel Lam at Sloan Kettering Memorial Cancer Center (Supervisor: Dr. Scott Keeney) for examining the meiotic recombination initiation hotspots.

“[Being able to present my work in front of my peers] is certainly one of the highlights of my graduate school experience, and it encourages me to continue pursuing research.”

Mr. Yoav Viochek at Weizmann Institute (Supervisor: Dr. Naama Barkai) for profiling the cell cycle dynamics of histone modification.

“I was pleasantly surprised by the vast amount of unpublished work presented here, in contrast to other conference I had participated in.”

Ms. Simina Ticau at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Supervisor: Dr. Stephen Bell) for studying Mcm2-7 loading on a single molecular level.

“Getting feedback and suggestions from [amazingly intelligent and creative group of scientists] has helped me move forward with my research and encouraged me to publish my data in the coming year.”

Ms. Udo Obodo at Vanderbilt University (Supervisor: Dr. Kathy Briedman) for studying the role of telomere-binding protein, Rap1p, in telomere lengthening.

“I have been blown away by the quality of talks and posters that I have observed and to be given the opportunity to present my work here is truly a blessing.”

Yeast is one of the most important model organisms for understanding biological processes in eukaryotic cells. At this FASEB meeting, new insight about DNA replication, transcription and histone modifications has been made using simple, yet powerful yeast genetics tools. The CSF is honored to be able to contribute to the success of the meeting and highlight the significance of using yeast genetics to advance human health.

“The Foundation's generosity is really terrific, as are its broader efforts to spread the word about yeast genetics.” Said Dr. Scott Keeney at Kettering Memorial Cancer Center, “I'm sure I share the feelings of many at this FASEB yeast chromosomes conference about the importance of what you are trying to do.”