2021 Meeting Report

Society for Developmental Biology 80th Annual Meeting
July 12-16, 2021

The Numbers

Total attendance was 1269 people from 32 countries and 46 U.S. states/territories. There were 452 faculty/staff, 189 postdoctoral fellows, 382 graduate students/postbacs, 246 undergraduates and 19 exhibitors. 461 abstracts were submitted, of which 387 were poster presentations.

2021 SDB Awards

Society for Developmental Biology Trainee Science Communication Award - Julia Derk, University of Colorado, Denver - Anschutz Medical
Juilia Derk
Elizabeth D. Hay New Investigator Award - Mansi Srivastava, Harvard University
Mansi Srivastava
Viktor Hamburger Outstanding Educator Prize - Michael Barresi, Smith College
Michael Barresi
Edwin G. Conklin Medal - Scott E. Fraser, University of Southern California
Scott E. Fraser
Society for Developmental Biology Lifetime Achievement Award - Edward M. De Robertis, University of California, Los Angeles
Edward M. De Robertis

Best Postdoctoral Presentation at the Hilde Mangold Postdoctoral Symposium

Peter Fabian

Peter Fabian, University of Southern California. Prize- Travel Award to Meeting/Course of Choice sponsored by Developmental Studies Hybridoma Bank. Single-cell sequencing reveals specialized fibroblasts for protecting the skeleton (Abstract #49)

Best Student Poster Competition Winners

Undergraduate Winners

Rick Li	Amanda Linskens	Erika Pontillo
Ruby Schnirman	Ronak Shah	Michaela Vance & Nazka Nurbyek

1st: Rick Li, Harvard University. Prize - $350 sponsored by the Society for Developmental Biology. Oncofetal RNA-binding proteins IGF2BP3 and LIN28B cooperatively regulate fetal-to-adult hemoglobin switching. (Abstract #187)

2nd: Amanda Linskens, University of Oregon. Prize - $250 sponsored by the Society for Developmental Biology. Drosophila melanogaster MDN and Pair1 neurons originate from the Hunchback temporal window in neuroblasts and Hunchback regulates MDN and Pair1 neuron morphology and behavior. (Abstract #358)

3rd: Erika Pontillo, Kenyon College. Prize - $150 sponsored by the Society for Developmental Biology. Tcf15 Patterns Peripheral Nerve Development in Zebrafish. (Abstract #359)

Honorable Mentions:
Ruby Schnirman, The University of Chicago. Prize - $50 sponsored by the Society for Developmental Biology. Investigating a role for the transcription factor cdx4 in zebrafish trunk neural crest specification. (Abstract #367)

Ronak Shah, CCHMC - University of Cincinnati. Prize - $50 sponsored by the Society for Developmental Biology. Wnt signaling-induced ion channel expression influences trachealis smooth muscle cell organization in developing mouse respiratory tract. (Abstract #293)

Nazka Nurbyek and Michaela Vance, University of Central Oklahoma. Prize - $50 sponsored by the Society for Developmental Biology. TEffect of Phenylalanine, Retinoic Acid, Retinal, and Citral on the Proliferation of O9-1 Mouse Cranial Neural Crest Cells. (Abstract #208)

Graduate Winners

Kristen D'Elia	Naomi Genuth	Sarah Paramore
Riley Galton	Rodrigo Ibarra García Padilla	Haley Barlow

1st: Kristen D'Elia, New York University School of Medicine. Prize- $1500 Travel Award and Registration to 2022 BSDB Spring Meeting sponsored by Developmental Studies Hybridoma Bank and the British Society for Developmental Biology. Identifying molecular determinants of spinal neurons important for fast locomotion . (Abstract #376)

2nd: Naomi Genuth, Stanford University. Prize- $1000 sponsored by Differentiation. A cellular roadmap of ribosome heterogeneity that controls cell fate and organismal development. (Abstract #113)

3rd: Sarah Paramore, Princeton University. Prize- $300 sponsored by 10X Genomics and the Society for Developmental Biology. A mesenchymal function for planar cell polarity during morphogenesis. (Abstract #394)

Honorable Mentions:
Riley Galton, California Institute of Technology. Prize- $100 sponsored by the Society for Developmental. A somatic piRNA pathway regulates epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition of chick neural crest cells. (Abstract #385)

Rodrigo Ibarra García Padilla, Rice University. Prize- $100 sponsored by the Society for Developmental Biology. Ectopic expression of CHAF1A in the neural crest blocks neuronal differentiation in zebrafish. (Abstract #313)

Haley Barlow, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Prize- $100 sponsored by the Society for Developmental Biology. Endothelial lumenogenesis does not require Rab11A- or Rab11B-mediated vesicle trafficking. (Abstract #277)

Other Meeting Highlights

Presidential Symposium – Translating Developmental Biology

Chair: Mary Dickinson (Baylor College of Medicine)
Speakers: Mary Dickinson (Baylor College of Medicine), Huda Zoghbi (Baylor College of Medicine), Hans Clevers (Hubrecht Institute, The Netherlands), and Michael Dyer (St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital)

Special Interest Symposium: Developing Mental Wellness at All Stages in Academia

Chairs: Graciela Unguez (New Mexico State University) and Nicole Theodosiou (Union College)
Speakers: Chrissy Stachl and Wendy Ingram (Dragonfly Mental Health)

Education Workshop – Lessons Learned in Implementing Inclusive Online Labs

Chairs: Anna Allen (Howard University) and Ed Freeman (St. John Fisher College)
Speakers: Alana O’Reilly (Fox Chase Cancer Center), Isha Verma (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor), Thomas Onorato (LaGuardia Community College of CUNY), Jennifer Skirkanich (Bryn Mawr College)