2025 Midwest C. elegans Meeting
The 2025 Midwest C. elegans Meeting will be held April 18, 2025, at Van Andel Institute in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The program will feature a keynote by Frank C. Schroeder, Ph.D., of Cornell University, talks by researchers across the C. elegans field and a poster session.
There is no cost to attend. Registration is required. The deadline for poster abstracts is March 3, 2025. Registration closes April 7, 2025.
To be announced – Stay tuned!
Professor, Boyce Thompson Institute and Cornell University
Prof. Schroeder studied chemistry and physics at the University of Hamburg, where he worked with Prof. Wittko Francke, identifying structures and functions of insect-derived natural products. Schroeder continued to develop new approaches toward characterizing biological small molecules as a postdoc with Jerrold Meinwald at Cornell University and later Jon Clardy’s group at Harvard Medical School as the Director of the Natural Products Initiative, where he discovered C. elegans as a model system for small molecule signaling and biochemistry. Schroeder started his own lab at BTI/Cornell University in 2007.
Research in the Schroeder lab is dedicated to facilitating a systematic structural and functional annotation of biogenic small molecules (BSMs) in model organisms, integrating expertise in molecular biology, bioinformatics, and chemistry. BSMs play central roles as information carriers in diverse biological processes and represent the most important resource for new drug leads, e.g., the treatment of metabolic disease and cancer. Moreover, detailed knowledge of small-molecule structures, their biosynthetic pathways, and their interactions with other biomolecules is essential for advancing our understanding of endocrine and exocrine signaling pathways.
Combining comparative metabolomics with phenotypic screens and genetic approaches, we have engaged in a comprehensive effort to characterize the metabolome (the entirety of all BSMs) produced by the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans, focusing on metabolites that control development, aging, and social behaviors. Encouraged by the success of our methods in the model system C. elegans, we have started a parallel effort to investigate tissue-specific differences in mammalian metabolomes, including changes in response to alteration of the composition of the gut microbiome. These studies indicate that mammals employ similarly extensive small molecule-based signaling networks that rely to a significant extent on not yet annotated BSMs.
Poster abstracts may be submitted during registration. Please indicate if you would like your abstract to be considered for an oral presentation. If you plan to participate in the poster session but do not want to be considered for an oral presentation, please select the “poster session” option during registration. The deadline for poster abstracts is March 3, 2025.
For questions, please contact Courtney Zirkle.
Abstract format
Submitted abstracts should represent original research. The title should be brief and descriptive, and the body should include rationale, methods and results. Please prepare abstracts using the below template.
Poster dimensions
Posters should be 60 in. x 40 in. Pushpins will be provided.
Questions?
Questions regarding abstract submission, posters, or the poster session can be directed to Courtney Zirkle.
TITLE OF ABSTRACT IN ALL CAPS (STYLE = TITLE)
Presenting Author1,2, Other Author1, and Last Author1,3 (Style = Authors)
1First Dept., Institution, City, State, Country, 2Second Dept., Institution, City, State, Country, and 3Last Dept., Institution, City, State, Country (Style = Affiliations)
Body of abstract using 300 words or less. Define each abbreviation at first use. All fonts should be Arial, 11 pt. and text should be single-spaced. Once you have filled in this template, choose File>Save As and save your file as a Word document (.doc or .docx) with the filename lastname_abstract. (Style = Body)
EXAMPLE
A MOTHER TO OFFSPRING METABOLIC LINK
Nick Burton1
1Department of Metabolic and Nutritional Programming, Van Andel Institute, Grand Rapids, MI, United States
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
Assistant Professor, Department of Metabolism and Nutritional Programming
Van Andel Institute
Dr. Nick Burton explores how our environment, especially microbes, can impact our health and the health of our offspring — even before they are born. His research has extensive implications for understanding how epigenetics contributes to human disease and how the environment we are exposed to today affects not only our own health, but also our children’s.
When and where is the 2024 Midwest C. elegans Meeting?
The meeting will be held April 18, 2025, at Van Andel Institute in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Is there a cost to register?
There is no cost to attend. Registration is required.
Can I register a group?
Yes, the registration form allows one person to register for a group. Once registration is complete for one person, please click “add person” in the bottom right corner of the form. Input the second person’s information and continue in this manner until all parties in the group are registered.
Where do I park?
There is metered parking around VAI as well as several parking garages. Please see the link below for parking options.
Parking near Van Andel Institute.
What if I need accessible parking?
Please contact Courtney Zirkle to discuss any accessibility needs.
Event Details
Contact Info:
Email: Courtney Zirkle