The third annual spring symposium for the Molecular Mechanisms of Disease Predoctoral Training Program is April 20 at the Champions Club. This training program prepares new scientists for professional careers in contemporary research on disease mechanisms, with a focus on building team-oriented skills for working at disciplinary boundaries and providing opportunities for communication, leadership and presentation.

A full day of events will take place at the symposium, including keynote seminars, trainee talks and poster sessions that feature multi-disciplinary research of 36 labs in seven departments. Click here for a complete list of events.

Keynote seminars will feature two guest speakers. Dr. Stephen Haggarty, from Harvard University and the Massachusetts General Hospital Chemical Neurobiology Laboratory, will present a seminar titled “Chemical Genomics of Neuropsychiatric Disorders.” Dr. Paul Trainor, from the University of Kansas Stowers Institute for Medical Research, will speak on “The Molecular Mechanisms of Craniofacial Development and Disease.”

Approximately 100 students, postdoctoral associates and faculty will be in attendance. More than 50 student abstracts will attend, representing 32 different mentor labs in biochemistry, biological sciences, biological systems engineering, chemistry, chemical and biomolecular engineering, biological systems engineering, animal sciences, School of Biological Sciences and Food Science & Technology.

The purpose of the symposium is to foster interactions among faculty members, students and members of participating labs involved or interested in the study of disease mechanisms at the molecular level, and to showcase the talent and potential within this new graduate program.

Registration for the symposium is open to faculty, graduate student and postdoctoral participants interested in mechanistic disease research.

For more information, contact Melanie Simpson, program director, at msimpson2@unl.edu.