Events
Dissertation title: Avian color and Evolution through space and time.
Hosted by Irby Lovette
An Ecology of Information: Measuring and Modeling Life’s Hidden Currency.
Hosted by Steve Ellner and Alex Flecker
The Einaudi Dissertation Proposal Development Program (DPD) supports 12 PhD students annually by offering seminars, workshops, mentoring sessions, and up to $5,000 for summer research. Applicants’ research projects must focus on global issues, but the proposed research setting may be international or domestic.
In this session, you'll learn more about the details of the program and advice on the application process.
Register for event here.
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The Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies hosts info sessions for graduate and for undergraduate students to learn more about funding opportunities, international travel, research, and internships. View the full calendar of fall semester sessions.
We next welcome Dr. Katie Galloway from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Galloway is an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering.
This seminar is co-sponsored by the Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering and the Cornell University Center for Vertibrate Genomics.
Engineering High-precision, Dynamic Genetic Control Systems for Cellular Reprogramming
Abstract: Integrating synthetic circuitry into larger transcriptional networks to mediate predictable cellular behaviors remains a challenge within synthetic biology. In particular, the stochastic nature of transcription makes coordinating expression across multiple genetic elements difficult. Further, delivery of large genetic cargoes limits the efficiency of cellular engineering. Thus, our work is focused on the design of highly-compact genetic tools with a minimal genomic footprint. Co-localization of multiple transcriptional units provides a simple method of compact design. However, co-localization introduces the potential for physical coupling between transcriptional units. To address this challenge, we recently developed a theoretical framework for exploring how DNA supercoils—dynamic structures induced during transcription—influence transcription and gene expression in synthetic and native gene systems. Using this model, we find that DNA supercoiling strongly influences the profile of gene expression and that influence is defined by syntax—the relative orientation and position of genetic elements—and the enclosing boundary conditions. In exploring both synthetic and native gene regulatory networks, we find that supercoiling-mediated feedback changes the behaviors accessible to control and supports (or inhibits) the function of transcriptional networks. Importantly, we have recently confirmed several predictions from this model experimentally and used this model to design circuits with massively improved performance in primary cells. Our results suggest that supercoiling couples behavior between neighboring genes, representing a novel regulatory mechanism. Additionally, our predictions suggest why some circuit designs fail and provide a path to improving transgenic designs. Harnessing the insights from our model will enable enhanced transcriptional control, providing a robust method to tune expression levels, dynamics, and noise needed for the construction of transgenic systems for diverse cell engineering applications including cellular reprogramming.
Bio: Katie Galloway is the W. M. Keck Career Development Professor in Biomedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Her research focuses on elucidating the fundamental principles of integrating synthetic circuitry to drive cellular behaviors. Her lab focuses on developing integrated gene circuits and elucidating the systems level principles that govern complex cellular behaviors. Her team lever ages synthetic biology to transform how we understand cellular transitions and engineer cellular therapies. Galloway earned a PhD and an MS in Chemical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), and a BS in Chemical Engineering from University of California at Berkeley. She completed her postdoctoral work at the University of Southern California. Her research has been featured in Science, Cell Stem Cell, Cell Systems, and Development. She has won multiple fellowships and awards including the Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Rising Star, Princeton’s CBE Saville Lecture Award, NIH Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award, the NIH F32, and Caltech’s Everhart Award.
In this info session for graduate students, learn about Fulbright at Cornell.
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program provides full funding for graduate and professional students conducting research in any field or teaching in more than 150 countries. Open to U.S. citizens only.
The Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad program supports doctoral students conducting research in modern languages or area studies for six to 12 months. Open to U.S. citizens and permanent residents of the United States. Travel to Western European countries is not eligible.
Register for the information session.
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The Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies hosts info sessions for graduate and for undergraduate students to learn more about funding opportunities, international travel, research, and internships. View the full calendar of fall semester sessions.
Climate and disturbance impacts on forests: Scaling from tree seedlings to continents.
Hosted by Christy Goodale
Established in 1992, the annual lecture series is hosted by the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics and honors Efraim Racker, who during his scientific career made seminal contributions to our understanding of basic cell metabolism and its role both in normal physiology and in diseases such as cancer. The Racker Lectures bring eminent scientists to Cornell who have made important contributions in the fields of biology, chemistry and medicine. Each scientist presents a public and an academic-technical lecture related to Racker’s research.
Curiosity-driven research in plant-insect interactions across a half-century.
Hosted by Anurag Agrawal
Looking left: preventing pandemics through ecological interventions.
Hosted by Andrew Moeller
