Advanced topics in Cell Biology for College Students

Certificate Course in Advanced Cell Biology 2014

Theme: To do or die

Sundays, 2 Feb to 23 March 2014, NCBS, Bangalore

Registration is now closed, Selected Participants will be informed by email by 15 January 2014

List of Selected Participants

An advanced course in cell biology entitled “To Do or Die”, will take place on NCBS campus, Bangalore. Classes will be held every Sunday from 2nd Feb to 23rd March 2014, from 9:30am to 12:30pm. Students will have to make their own arrangement to get to campus.

The target audience is students, currently enrolled in bachelor level courses (BS, BSc) in Bangalore, with a strong interest in fundamental research. The minimum biology experience expected is 12th standard/ II PUC.

Classes would be led by junior researchers of NCBS (Speakers listed below), and will focus on contemporary opinions on a subset of actively pursued areas in cell biology. It is hoped that this course would broaden the understanding of those considering a career in science.

The course will provide an idea about different topics in modern cell biology along with the current status of knowledge in that field. Each topic will have two components: 1) a lecture about the topic and context in which it is important; 2) a paper discussion. Students will be provided with reading material for each class. The paper discussion will be an interactive session where students would be expected to present information from a research paper. Attendance in all classes would be mandatory. Those completing all the requirements for the course will be presented a certificate.

Participation will be restricted to 30 students and priority would be given to 3rd year BSc students. Those selected will be emailed by 15 January 2014. Please note that all communications will only be via email. There is no fee for the course.

Speakers

Baskar

I completed my PhD from National Center for Cell Science, Pune and worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher at The Ohio State University, Columbus for 3 years. I am a trained Biochemist and Molecular Biologist with specialisation in RNA biology and Translation regulation. Currently I am studying the role of translation regulation in Long term Memory with Drosophila Olfactory System as a Model.

In this course I will give you an overview of RNA as a tool and its applications in understanding biology of the cell.

Megha

I got my PhD at SUNY, Stony Brook, USA in Biochemistry and Structural Biology. I then moved to infectious diseases at the University of Washington, Seattle. Currently, I am working as a Wellcome Trust/ DBT India Alliance Early Career Fellow at NCBS. Using Drosophila as a model system, my work seeks to understand how neuropeptides regulate obesity and feeding.

For this course, I will be discussing how cell size is regulated – How does a cell know how big or how small it has to be? Is it controlled by genes/ environment/ space constraints/ nutrition, or all of the above?

Parag Surana

I am doing my PhD in NCBS where I analyze structures of proteins and their interaction with DNA/RNA. Besides pondering over how proteins work, I love to think about how molecules explain life at large.

To live, a cell must preserve the genetic code in its DNA and must create a diverse set of proteins. What if the DNA breaks down or the protein malfunctions? What can a cell do? I would like to discuss how cells lives and maintains a quality life.

Reety Arora

I completed my PhD from University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute in 2012 in molecular biology. I specialized in tumor viruses and my project explored the newest human cancer virus- Merkel cell polyomavirus and its causative role in Merkel cell carcinoma. I then transitioned to stem cell research and am currently working as a postdoctoral fellow at inStem, NCBS, Bangalore investigating quiescence in muscle derived stem cells/satellite cells.

For this course I will be taking you on a cellular journey. I will lead you from an indolent quiescent stem cell to an overactive proliferating cancer cell. Amidst all this I will also try and give you a viral perspective on cell division.

Shambhavi Naik

I did my PhD and post-doctoral work in cancer biology at the MRC Toxicology Unit, UK. Currently I am working at NCBS as a post-doctoral researcher studying mechanisms of triggering cell death in cancer cells.

'A thousand ways to die – yet how does a cell live?' I will be dealing with the many ways a cell can die during normal development and then providing a brief insight into how cancer cells manage to evade these different death triggers.

Soumita Das

I am pursuing my post-doctoral research in NCBS after getting PhD on ‘plant heavy metal homeostasis’ from Department of Biotechnology, University of Calcutta. My current area of interest is to study the role of epigenetic players in the expression and/or silencing of gene in plant system.

It was well accepted that nucleus is the ‘brain of a cell’ and genes act as the master controller. Interestingly, all the genes are regulated by epigenome and small RNAs – which will be focused in my discussion during the course.
 

Tentative Topics

Getting to NCBS

From IISc, Malleshwaram: Take the free shuttle to NCBS. Timings are here.

We are located in the UAS, GKVK campus on Bellary road. There is a BMTC stop right outside the GKVK gate. Most buses going to the airport or Yelahanka that ply on Bellary Road make a stop here. However, the walk to NCBS is about 2Kms from the GKVK gate and transport/autos do not typically like to come inside.

Click here for useful information

Contact Us

ncbs.outreach at gmail.com [for course queries]

080 23666001 [for getting to NCBS]