Thomas Iacobucci | The Crow’s Nest
By James Bennett III
Science experts from as far as Tennessee, Texas and New Jersey will be visiting USF St. Petersburg later this month.
The International Society for Computational Biology’s southeastern regional student group will host its second symposium at USF St. Petersburg’s Harbor Hall on Dec. 13 and 14.
According to the event’s press release, organizers of the symposium hope to “promote, educate and provide opportunities for the next generation of scientists in the field of computational biology.”
There are three keynote speakers scheduled to speak on the first day of the symposium.
Katie Farney, who works with the National Institutes of Health, will present “The power of computational biology to probe diverse disease models” from 9:30 to 10:15 a.m.
Sameer Varma, an associate professor at USF, will present “Molecular modeling of protein function, regulation and assembly” from 1 to 1:45 p.m.
Finally, Stuart Gordon, an assistant professor and chair of the biology department at Presbyterian College in South Carolina, will present “The effect of genotype and abiotic stress on maize phyllosphere microbiome composition and function” from 1:45 until 2:30 p.m.
Nathan Beard, whose paintings can be found in the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library, is scheduled to give a presentation about how his work couples art with science.
That night, from 6 to 8 p.m., a symposium banquet will be held at The Library, 600 Fifth St. S.
The following day will be filled with talks about research in computational biology and will be followed by The Cell Apoptosis Social at The Tavern at Bayboro from 6 to 8 p.m.
Roughly 40 people attended the first symposium. Leon Hardy, a physics instructor at USF St. Petersburg and one of the faculty representatives for the event, said he expects roughly 40 people to attend this year, too.
In an email, Hardy said the International Society for Computational Biology “provides opportunities both educational and professional for our students, across the southeast USA and internationally.” He added that job opportunities will be announced at the symposium.
