2020 CCIB Annual Retreat

Monday, December 14, 2020
8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Tuesday, December 15, 2020
5:00 P.M. – 8:00 P.M.

Our retreat venue is through Gather.town, which is a virtual world that allows you to move around from room to room. Room Map is below. (best used with Chrome web browser)

Join CCIB Virtual Retreat Gather.town by visiting https://gather.town/app/f53giMbzgzHxozlC/CCIB
Password is required. You must register, above, to gain access to the venue.

2020 CCIB RETREAT – ITINERARY

Monday, December 14, 2020
8:30am	CCIB Retreat Meet–N–Greet Location: Lobby Explore CCIB Retreat and Greet Others.

9:00am	Welcome Interim Chancellor, Rutgers-Camden – Dr. Margaret Marsh Rutgers-Camden Provost – Dr. Michael Palis Associate Dean, Graduate School Faculty of Arts and Sciences–Camden – Dr. Michelle Meloy Chief Executive Officer, Board of Governors, Joint Health Science Center – Ms. Dana Redd Director, CCIB – Dr. Nir Yakoby Location: Main Auditorium

9:30am	CONCURRENT PANELS
	PANEL DISCUSSION: Biomimetic/Biomaterial Moderators: Dr. Jinglin Fu and Dr. David Salas de la Cruz Novel molecular scaffolds Biomimetic assembly and their functions Large-scale production of biomaterials Location: Main Auditorium	Post-Doc Professional Development – PROF 101 Moderator: Dr. Nir Yakoby Panel Members: Dr. Anthony Geneva, Dr. Bill Whitlow, Dr. Iman Dehzangi, Dr. Kwangwon Lee, Dr. Suneeta Ramaswami Location: Workshop Space

10:30am	CONCURRENT PANELS
	Grant Applications for Faculty Moderator: Dr. Maria Solesio Panel Members: Dr. Eric Klein (NSF), Dr. Jinglin Fu (DOD) Presentation: Dr. Thomas Cheever, Program Director at the Division of Neurodegeneration at NINDS, NIH Location: Main Auditorium	Scientific Presentations for Students Moderators: SOC Board Presentation: Dr. Nathan Fried Location: Workshop Space

12:00pm	Student Poster Session Location: Hallway to Posters

3:00pm	PANEL DISCUSSION: “An interdisciplinary conversation about temperature.” Moderator: Eric Klein Panel Members: Angelica Gonzalez, Dan Shain, Grace Brannigan, Guillaume Lamoureux, David Salas-De La Cruz Topics: The definition of temperature and thermal equilibrium The role of entropy on the intensity of increased temperature The effect of temperature on rates and kinetics. Capturing temperature within computational models Temperature effects on cells, organisms, and ecosystems Some interesting phenomenon caused by thermal excitation Location: Main Auditorium

4:30pm	General Discussion and Q & A Town Hall Moderator: Dr. Nir Yakoby Location: Main Auditorium

Tuesday, December 15, 2020
5:00pm	Best Student Paper Presentation Speaker: Liam Sharp, CCIB Ph.D. Student, Brannigan Lab Title: Boundary lipids of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor in model and native membranes Abstract: The nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are pentameric ligand-gated ion channels (pLGICs) responsible for conducting cations across the neuronal plasma membrane and stimulating an action potential throughout mammalian nervous systems. nAChRs are modulated by their local lipid composition (the boundary region) and require a specific boundary composition for function. One modulating lipid is cholesterol. Significant research has gone into understanding exactly what boundary lipids are crucial for nAChR function: do the boundary lipids have a neutral or anionic charge? What are the highest acyl-chain affinity: saturated or unsaturated? We hypothesize twenty occupancy sites, with complex boundary compositions, rich in cholesterol and PUFAs. We analyze both model and quasi-neuronal membranes to try and characterize boundary composition and specific protein-lipid occupancy sites. First, using simulations of model domain and non-domain forming polyunsaturated (PUFA) rich ternary membranes, we analyze whether nAChR resides in a liquid order or disorder domain, and potential specific lipid occupancy sites. Second, using the bacterial protein, Erwinia ligand-gated ion channel, a pLGIC of the same family, we analyze the preferential occupancy of neutral and anionic lipids. Finally, bringing all of the previous studies together, we embed nAChR within a quasi-native neuronal membrane and calculate the protein occupancy affinity for our previously predicted lipid occupancy sites from model systems. Location: Main Auditorium

6:00pm	Alumni Discussion and Q & A: How to get the job YOU want? Location: Main Auditorium

7:00pm	Presentation: STEM Graduate School Demystified: A Session for Friends and Family Location: Main Auditorium

8:00pm	CCIB Social Location: The Lounge