Andrew Flores Conference Summary

Andrew Flores
  Ph.D. Candidate
  Physiological Sciences GIDP

  Conference Summary
  Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting
  Chicago, Illinois
  October 17-21, 2016

I attended the 2015 Society for Neuroscience (SfN) annual meeting in Chicago, IL from October 16-21. With nearly 30,000 in attendance, the SfN annual meeting is the world’s largest neuroscience conference and is the premier venue for neuroscientists to present their research, learn from experts, form collaborations, explore new tools and technologies, and advance their careers.

At the meeting I attended a special, day-long short course/workshop entitled Using iPS Cells and Reprogramming to Model and Treat Neural Development and Disease—a topic relevant to my own research, which involves the use of induced-pluripotent stem (iPS) cell technology to generate patient-specific models of idiopathic Parkinson’s disease. During this workshop, I was introduced to advanced research methodologies by established experts in the iPS field. I also had the opportunity to ask questions related to some of the unique aspects of using iPS cells to model late-onset, age-related disorders like Parkinson’s disease. Overall, I learned a great deal from this course which I hope to apply to my own project.

I also presented a poster during the session for Alpha-Synuclein, LRRK2, and Other Molecular Mechanisms: Human Studies and also at the McKnight Brain Research Foundation Poster Session satellite event. I was pleased to have had a relatively steady flow of traffic to my poster throughout both presentations, and had a number of intriguing dialogues with scientists who offered novel insights and critical feedback on my research. Presenting was a valuable opportunity to practice communicating and defending my research—skills that will be crucial to my success in future stages of my career.

Additionally, I was able to attend multiple symposia and poster sessions related to Parkinson’s disease and neurodegeneration, where I was able to ask questions, gather ideas for my own research, and deepen my knowledge and interest in the field. The conference also provided numerous opportunities to network and meet scientists who may want to collaborate or offer postdoctoral research opportunities to me in the future.