Alumni Association News 2010

8 September 2010

Alumni get-together at the EMBO Meeting

This year’s EMBO Meeting, held in Barcelona from 4-7 September at the Palau de Congressos de Catalunya, provided an opportunity for nearly 30 current and former EMBL staff to catch up at the 6th annual gathering of the Iberian Chapter.

EMBL senior scientist Peer Bork kicked off the festivities with an energetic discussion of the latest EMBL news from the laboratory. He also gave a quick overview of his current research projects.

Group Leaders and EMBL alumni Mayka Sanchez (Institute of Predictive and Personalized Medicine of Cancer), Lola Ledesma (Centro Biologia Molecular Severo Ochoa) and Matthieu Louis (Center for Genomic Regulation), gave a glimpse into their highly creative research projects, ranging from studying the role of sphingolipids in synapses to determining how flies distinguish odours.

Once the formal alumni session was over, participants were invited to continue catching up at the EMBO Meeting dinner reception.

This year’s event was arranged by alumni Luis Serrano (Center for Genomic Regulation) and Sarah Sherwood (IRB Barcelona), who extend their thanks to everyone for coming, their institutes for funding refreshments, and EMBO for generously providing the venue and organisational help.

Programme

Time	Topic/ Speaker
16:30	Welcome Luis Serrano and Sarah Sherwood
16:35	EMBL up-date Peer Bork, EMBL Heidelberg
16:55	Sphingolipids in synapses. Lessons from Niemann Pick disease Lola Ledesma, Centro Biologia Molecular Severo Ochoa, Madrid
17:10	Iron metabolism disorders: Novel diseases and future research lines Mayka Sanchez, Institute of Predictive and Personalized Medicine of Cancer, Barcelona
17:25	How flies tell odors apart Matthieu Louis, Center for Genomic Regulation, Barcelona
17:40	Informal discussion and short reception Offered by the Center for Genomic Regulation and the Institute for Research in Biomedicine
18:00	Those who wish to continue with the staff-alumni get-together are welcome to stay.
19:30	Conference Party (€50 entrance fee at the Conference desk) Palau Gardens & Salón Piscina