Most of the lab traveled to Portland, OR last weekend for the first post-pandemic North American Planarian Meeting. It was so great to reconnect with colleagues, to hear about exciting new research, and to learn new techniques and findings about our favorite worms.
Tulip, Kendall, and Taylor presented talks on their work on glia and dopaminergic neuron regeneration, respectively. They did a beautiful job sharing their data and current hypotheses. Kendall also wore a skirt that matched her slides!
Tulip presenting on planarian glia.
Kendall (L) and Taylor (R) presenting their work on neuronal regeneration.
We also brought lots of new planarian scholars who have joined the lab in the past year. Though they are early in their projects, it helped to get good feedback that we can use to shape their future plans and experiments. Christina presented on neuropeptide processors in regeneration. Skylar presented her work on characterizing the parenchymal space. And Chris presented a project started by Britessia (former technician) to identify new signaling molecules important for regeneration.
Christina and her first planarian poster.
Skylar showing off her work.
Chris showing off his new NAPM swag.
This is the first time I have been to a planarian meeting with my group (the last such meeting was in 2017 as I was just starting the lab). It was great to introduce them to colleagues, some of whom they have met virtually. We appreciated the feedback and support and enjoyed getting to be together as a lab and broader scientific community. We are really grateful to Dr. Bret Pearson (OHSU) and his group for hosting us! And thanks to all who asked great questions, offered ideas, or shared suggestions for improving our work.
R-G lab 2023 (Portland, OR). Front row: Kendall, Taylor, Christina, and Skylar. Back row: Tulip, Rachel, Macey, and Chris.