Undergraduate Genetics Education Workshop – Tuesday, November 11

(advance sign-up required)

This program is a special session before the commencement of the annual meeting. The workshop will be held on Tuesday, November 11, from 8:00 am until 3:30 pm at the Pennsylvania Convention Center (Room 108). The purpose of this human genetics educational workshop is to present and discuss various topics and pedagogies relevant to those faculty teaching biology courses containing meaningful genetics content. The overarching goal is to encourage effective teaching of human genetics such that it contributes to improving the genetic literacy of all students enrolled in such classes. It assumes some participants will not be formally trained geneticists, and that even for those who are, such a venue can be illuminating for them as well. It will also strongly encourage follow-up activities and communications among all involved during the ensuing academic year. Attendance at this workshop is free to all participants. The event is limited to 50 attendees and requires a special registration in addition to your ASHG meeting registration.

Registration and more information are available here.  Breakfast and lunch will be served.
 

Trainee-Mentor Luncheon – Wednesday, November 12

(admission by advance ticket purchase only)

Sponsored by the ASHG Information and Education Committee, the Trainee-Mentor Luncheon is scheduled to be held on Wednesday, November 12 from 12:00 Noon until 1:00 pm in the Pennsylvania Convention Center (Room 108). This event provides a wonderful opportunity for students in the field of human genetics to sit and chat informally with senior members of the Society about career goals, achievements, training programs, and many other career options within the various disciplines of genetics. This year we have made a special effort to include mentors who are active in a variety of fields including executives in private industry, editors of scientific journals and journalists as well as academicians, professors, clinicians, genetic counselors. The luncheon is held on the first day of the meeting so that students can continue their discussions with these mentors at some other time during the course of the meeting. Trainees at any level (graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and clinical fellows) are invited to attend. The cost for the luncheon is $20 USD per trainee. Seats may be reserved only by registering in advance by the early registration deadline of September 19. Tickets will be mailed with all details before the meeting. Tickets are non-refundable.

Mentors are chosen for this event by the chair of the Information and Education Committee. For those chosen to serve as mentors, lunch is complimentary. (NOTE: Mentors should not order tickets for themselves when completing the online registration form.)

Trainee Program: Career Development and Networking Session - Wednesday, November 12

(separate complimentary registration required, look for the link after you complete your ASHG meeting registration)

This special program is scheduled to be held on Wednesday, November 12, from 8:00 pm until 10:00 pm at the Pennsylvania Convention Center (Ballroom B). The program is for graduate students and post-doctoral fellows and is organized by the Professional Development Committee. ASHG trainees interested in an event designed to broaden their knowledge regarding rewarding careers ranging from laboratory research to patent law should attend. This year, we will have two concurrent plenary sessions, one focused on students, the other on post-docs. Steve Wendell, University of Pittsburgh, will speak to students about Career Opportunities and Corie Lok, Nature Networks, will speak to post-docs about online networking. Finally, a networking session will be open to all participants to discuss a variety of careers including biotechnology, patent law, clinical diagnostic, academic research, policy, journalism, education, public health, and science writing. The event is limited to 250 attendees and requires a separate complimentary registration in addition to your ASHG meeting registration. The link is available on the registration confirmation page of your meeting registration. If you have already registered for the annual meeting and need to register for this event, please do so here:

http://www.ashg.org/cgi-bin/2008/trainee/careereventm.pl

UCSC Interactive Workshop: Useful Databases for Geneticists

(Advance sign-up required via ASHG Meeting Registration - deadline is September 19, 2008)

Robert Kuhn and David Haussler, University of California, Santa Cruz, Center for Biomolecular Science & Engineering and Anton Nekrutenko, James Taylor and Ross Lazarus from the Galaxy project at Penn State University will present two interactive workshops on Web-based genomic tools. Both workshops are identical therefore you only need to attend one of them (not both). The first workshop is scheduled on Thursday, November 13, from 5:00 pm until 6:30 pm and the second workshop is scheduled on Friday, November 14, from 12:00 pm until 1:30 pm and will be held in Room 204 of Convention Center.

By attending this interactive wireless workshop you will learn about databases, the UCSC Genome Browser and analysis tools within the Galaxy framework that help scientists understand the human and 42 other animal genomes. There is no cost to attend the workshop but you must register for the ASHG 2008 meeting (please check the appropriate box on the registration form). Seating is limited so please register early.

Session requirements: You must bring your laptop. Your laptop should have full battery power and must have a wireless card in order to participate. For questions about this session, contact Robert Kuhn via e-mail at kuhn@soe.ucsc.edu. We look forward to your participation.
 

Publications Workshop/Boxed Supper: Demystifying the Road to Publication

Room 109, Street Level

(separate fee of $25 and advance registration required)

Publishing experimental results is a goal of most researchers, but the process is often filled with frustration and disappointment. For many authors, organizing and discussing data in a clear and concise fashion is a cumbersome task. Additionally, it is difficult to know which journal is the most appropriate for a manuscript. At the journal office, editors often receive papers that lack a few fundamental pieces that would have allowed an extra level of consideration. Also, peer-review is an essential part of the publication system, but it is only as effective as the comments that are generated and the response of the authors to the reviews. At this session, the editors from three prominent genetics journals will offer some guidelines to follow during the publication and review process. Following the speakers, there will be a 20-minute question and answer period with a panel of editors from a variety of journals. This workshop (moderated by Robin Williamson, Deputy Editor of AJHG) will be held on Thursday, November 13 from 6:30 until 8:00 PM and includes a boxed supper. The deadline to register is October 31, 2008. This workshop is limited to 150 attendees so register early! The $25 registration fee is separate from the meeting registration fee. Tickets are non-refundable. This event is for meeting registrants only.

If you are interested in the workshop, you must register in advance and must first register for the 2008 meeting. Click HERE to register for the 2008 meeting. Upon completion of your meeting registration, you will be provided with a link to register for the workshop.

If you are already registered for the meeting, you may request a copy of your registration confirmation page at the following URL http://www.ashg.org/2008meeting/pages/receipt.shtml so that you can obtain the link and register for the workshop.
 

Middle and High School Workshop – Friday, November 14

The Middle and High School Workshop, organized by the ASHG Information and Education Committee, will be held on Friday, November 14, from 8:30 am until 3:30 pm at the Pennsylvania Convention Center (Room 108). The purpose of the workshop is to provide local middle and high school students and their teachers with an opportunity to participate in interactive learning experiences and to gain exposure to researchers in the field of human genetics. Attendance will be limited to 250 participants and registration is required. Breakfast and lunch will be served. Philly high school teachers who are interested in bringing their students, please email Angie Wong to sign up. For more information, go to http://www.ashg.org/education/.