The SCBA Washington DC Chapter held its annual scientific symposium at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland on June 8, 2024. The symposium attracted over 100 attendees from the universities and institutions in the Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia areas, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Janelia Campus, Children’s National Hospital (CNH), George Washington University (GWU), Georgetown University (GU), George Mason University (GMU), Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine (VT/VTC), University of Maryland (UMD), and Johns Hopkins University (JHU). The symposium continues its tradition to provide an excite venue for scientific interactions among both Chinese and non-Chinese bioscientists in the great Washington DC areas.

The symposium started with the opening remarks from Dr. Yuan Zhu (CNH), president of the Washington DC local chapter, who summarized recent chapter-sponsored activities and the main theme of the symposium, “Epigenetics and gene regulation in diseases”. The meeting presentation started with the keynote speaker, Dr. Chuan He, an HHMI investigator and a member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences from University of Chicago. Dr. He delivered an exciting lecture on his seminal discovery on the role of RNA methylation in gene regulation and its potential application to improve agriculture. Following the keynote presentation, Session I, chaired by Drs Dr. Hong Xu (NIH/NHLBI) and Dr. Haiyan He (GU), focused on new technologies related to genetics and genomics, including four presentations: (1) Deciphering the form and function of the 3D genome by Dr. Dr. James Zhe Liu (HHMI/Janelia), (2) Exploring DNA supercoiling tension across the human genome by Dr. Chongyi Chen (NIH/NCI), (3) discovering a gut microbial enzyme that reduces bilirubin to urobilinogen by Dr. Xiaofang Jiang (NIH/NLM), and (4) Asymmetric histone inheritance patterns in mammalian olfactory horizontal stem cells by Dr. Binbin Ma (JHU). Session II, chaired by Drs. Yuntao Wu (GMU) and Wenxia Song (UMD), presented a variety of topics on immunology, including five presentations: (1) Dr. Li Yang (NIH/NCI) presented an important regulatory axis between tumor suppressors and immune cells in cancer metastatic progression, (2) Dr. Lishan Su (UMD) presented an important lesson from viruses on mechanisms of human inflammatory diseases, (3) Dr. Nanping Weng (NIH/NIA) presented the impact of aging on immune function, (4) Dr. Hao Jin (NIH/NIAID) presented a body-brain circuit regulating body inflammatory responses, and (5) Dr. Wei Li (CNH) presented a new method decoding heterogenous single-cell perturbation responses. Session III, chaired by Dr. Yang Liu (OncoC4, Inc.) and Dr. Zhe Han (UMD), focuses on epigenetics with 5 talks: (1) Dr. Keji Zhao (NIH/NHLBI) presented detection, function, and regulation of chromatin looping, (2) Dr. Tingting Wang (GU) presented glial epigenetic signaling in Alzheimer’s disease, (3) Dr. Kai Ge (NIH/NIDDK) presented enhancer regulation by chromatin modifying enzymes, (4) Dr. Jia-Ray Yu (VT/VTC) presented the role of chromatin imbalance in cancer, and (5) Dr. Weiqun Peng (GWU) presented 3D chromatin architecture and its role in gene regulation in immune system. The symposium was culminated by the second keynote presentation by Dr. Xin Chen, an HHMI investigator and JHU. Dr. Chen presented recent exciting findings from her lab on how to prolong longevity of germ stem cells in Drosophila.

This symposium had two panel discussions focusing on (1) career development in industry and regulatory career pathways, chaired by Dr. Yehong Ye (NIH/NIDDK) and two panelists, Drs You Li (CBA, President-elect) and Jun Zhao (FDA) and (2) NIH Intramural and Extramural Programs, chaired by Dr. Mitchell Ho (NIH/NCI) and two panelists, Drs. Carl Hashimoto (NIH/OD/Director of Faculty Development) and Yuan Luo (Program Director, NIA). This symposium selected two presentations from over 30 abstracts, including Dr. Binbin Ma (JHU) and Dr. Wei Li (CNH). A poster session was held from which four presenters were selected to receive the Best Poster Award. The awardees are Drs. Yijun Liao, Yinghua Li Cuojia Xie, and Jingwen Jiang.

Drs. Wei Li (NIH/NEI), Chuan Wu (NIH/NCI) and Xiaoyan Zheng (GWU) co-organized this one-day symposium. Dr. Yufei Jiang, the secretary of the SCBA Washington DC Chapter, managed meeting logistics. Volunteers from the NIH-CSSA also helped with the meeting. Dr. Yihong Ye of the NIH served as the meeting photographer. Importantly, this symposium received generous sponsorship support from Vazyme, AMPSEQ, AAVnerGene, GenScript, Life Scientists’ Service Center, and EGFIE LLC.

2024 Symposium Program

More Photos (credit by Yihong Ye) »