2019 Meeting Report
Society for Developmental Biology 78th Annual Meeting
Marriott Copley Place, Boston, MA
July 26-30, 2019
Paul D. Henion Graduate Student Travel Award
Best Postdoctoral Presentation at the Hilde Mangold Postdoctoral Symposium
Marriott Copley Place, Boston, MA
July 26-30, 2019
Full Abstracts with Author Index
The Numbers
Total attendance was 949 people from 26 different countries. There
were 384 faculty/staff, 184 postdoctoral fellows, 352 students and 29
exhibitors. 655 abstracts were submitted, of which 560 were poster
presentations.
2019 SDB Awards
| Elizabeth D. Hay New Investigator Award - Otger Campàs, University of California, Santa Barbara | |
 Otger Campàs
| |
Edwin G. Conklin Medal - Eric Olson, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center | |
 Eric Olson | |
Society for Developmental Biology Lifetime Achievement Award - Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology | |
 Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard | |
Viktor Hamburger Outstanding Educator Prize - Gary Schoenwolf, University of Utah | |
 Gary Schoenwolf | |
John Doctor Education Prize - Amy Ralston, Michigan State University | |
 Lilianna Solnica-Krezel, Amy Ralston, and Danelle Devenport | Developmental Origami: An active learning exercise to explore the developmental origins of the body axes |
 Debadrita Bhattacharya | Debadrita Bhattacharya, Cornell University, was the recipient of the Paul D. Henion Graduate Student Travel Award.
The award provided $500 travel assistance to Debadrita, a post-candidacy
graduate student, to attend the meeting and present her work Metabolic reprogramming drives epithelial-mesenchymal transition in neural crest cells. (Abstract #635) |
 Rajendhran Rajakumar and Ida Chow | Rajendhran Rajakumar, McGill University. Prize-
Travel Award to Meeting/Course of Choice sponsored by the Society for Developmental Biology. ocial regulation of a rudimentary organ generates complex worker-caste systems in ants
(Abstract #48)
|
Best Student Poster Competition Winners
 |
| (l-r) Danelle Devenport (SDB Junior Faculty Rep), Marlene Lawston, Bailey Weatherbee, Madison Williams, Mengyi Song, David Pompili, Anna Yoney, Steven Zwick (not pictured) |
Undergraduate Winners
1st: Madison Williams, University of Washington. Prize - $300 sponsored by the Society for Developmental Biology. Investigating mitotic dynamics of early Xenopus tropicalis tail regeneration. (Abstract #396)
2nd: Bailey Weatherbee, University of Delaware. Prize - $200 from the Society for Developmental Biology. The cataract-associated RNA-binding protein Celf1 functions coordinately with Elavl1 to post-transcriptionally regulate the key eye transcription factor Pax6 in mouse lens development. (Abstract #230)
Honorable Mention: Marlene Lawston, Colgate University. Prize - textbook donated by
Sinauer/Oxford University Press or Columbia University Press. Changes in progenitor populations lead to expanded mechanosensory lateral line in cavefish. (Abstract #415)
Graduate Winners
1st: Steven Zwick, Harvard University. Prize- Travel to 2019 BSDB Spring Meeting sponsored by Chroma and the British Society for Developmental Biology. Embryo geometry and tissue mechanics regulate signaling during mammalian gastrulation. (Abstract #338)
1st: Steven Zwick, Harvard University. Prize- Travel to 2019 BSDB Spring Meeting sponsored by Chroma and the British Society for Developmental Biology. Embryo geometry and tissue mechanics regulate signaling during mammalian gastrulation. (Abstract #338)
2nd: Anna Yoney, The Rockefeller University. Prize- $500 sponsored by the Society for Developmental Biology. A temporal hierarchy between WNT and ACTIVIN signaling drives patterning of mesendoderm in human gastruloids. (Abstract #282)
3rd: David Pompili, University of Toronto. Prize- $300 sponsored by the Society for Developmental Biology. SCO with the flow: Investigating the function of the subcommissural organ and Reissner’s fiber in the pathogenesis of idiopathic scoliosis. (Abstract #244)
Honorable Mention: Mengyi Song, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto. Prize textbook donated by Sinauer/Oxford
University Press or Columbia University Press. gata5/6 regulate the early specification of distinct mesoderm lineages in zebrafish. (Abstract #284)
Other Meeting Highlights
Plenary Session III - Developmental Biology & Society: From Fundamental to Practical
| Monte Westerfield, University of Oregon. Using human patients as a platform for discovery of novel developmental genes. |
| Diana Bianchi, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The earlier the better: Analysis of the fetal transcriptome to develop novel therapies. |
Choose Development!
Choose Development! Fellows at SDB Annual Meeting
 Diana Ramirez with mentor Carmen Domingo |  |
 Lindsey Hernandez |  Alexis Camacho-Avila |
 Grace Jean and Graciela Unguez |  Choose Development! Luncheon |
Photos from Meeting
 Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUI) Networking Session |
 Meet the SDB Presidents Luncheon |
 Trainee Reception with SDB Board | Trainee Reception with SDB Board |
 Graduate Student Lunch Meetup |  SDB Presidents Celebrate 80 Years of the Society |