The 12th Horizons in Molecular Biology Symposium


Almost thirteen years have passed since Horizons in Molecular Biology first kicked off its successful start. The 12th annual symposium took place from September 14th to 17th, 2015. This year, the symposium hosted an excellent selection of speakers from all across the globe and across a broad range of topics.

 

The conference started with an exciting keynote by Tom Rapoport on how the organelles inside cells take up their elegant shapes, and continued with insights into the field of structural biology by Axel Brunger, Pamela Bjorkman, and Adam Frost. At the interface of physics and chemistry, Alice Ting talked about live-cell proteome mapping while Charalampos Kalodimos discussed the dynamics of protein assemblies. Eminent scientists in the field of developmental biology like Kimberly Mowry, Karuna Sampath, and Didier Stainier shared some of their most fascinating research. Manuel Mayr's talk established a link between basic science and clinical biology. The talks on neurosciences by Erika Holzbaur and King-Wai Yau were truly impressive. Inspiring talks by Scott Emr, Kathleen Green, Fumiyo Ikeda, Maya Schuldiner, and Carola Vinuesa left us with a promise of excitement and motivation for research in the field of biochemistry and cell biology, while the Nobel Lecture by Martin Chalfie inspired the audience.

 

Apart from the plenary lectures, the presence and active participation of the speakers were exciting. In addition to the speakers, we welcomed around 200 young scientists from 17 different countries and four different continents. Additionally, this year, for the very first time, we hosted a special event called Beyond the Horizons which included art exhibitions depicting an overlap between art and science. Be it the career fair, wine and cheese session, the poster session, the art exhibition or the conference dinner and party, the interaction and networking between speakers and participants marked the success of the conference. Having completed last years’ Horizons, we hope that our conference keeps expanding its horizons with each passing year. 

 Shrutee Jakhanwal

Speakers 2015


Biochemistry and Cell Biology

Scott Emr, Kathleen Green, Fumiyo Ikeda, Christian Mandl, Tom Rapoport, Maya Schuldiner, Carola Vinuesa

Developmental Biology

Kimberly Mowry, Karuna Sampath, Didier Stainier

Neuroscience

Axel Brunger, Martin Chalfie, Erika Holzbaur, Ivan Manzini, King-Wai Yau

Structural Biology & Biophysics

Pamela Bjorkman, Adam Frost, Charalampos Kalodimos, Manuel Mayr, Alice Ting