Dear MVP students and parents,
A. This Saturday, UM GIDAS Speaker Series
University of Michigan GIDAS is excited to welcome Dr. Sami Barmada for a virtual talk this Saturday, November 7, at 1-2 PM EST! Dr. Barmada is an Associate Professor in the Neurology department at Michigan Medicine and specializes in ALS and frontotemporal dementia research, with an additional focus on finding new therapies for neurodegenerative diseases.
The virtual talk will be held as a Zoom webinar, and more details about the webinar will be provided after filling out the RSVP form emailed to you. All are welcome to join! This will be a good GIDAS advertisement activity.
B. Pre-work for this weekend meeting
We are now moving on to gene expression changes. In order to better understand the data we will analyze, let’s learn the basics of the technology used to gather that data.
There are two main technologies to measure gene expressions: microarrays and next generation sequencing platforms.
1) Microarray: If you haven’t yet, please go through this interactive learning experience.
Note: you will need to allow Flash to run on the site.
2) Next gen sequencing (NGS):
If you are short on time, watching up to the 15:40 time point will be the minimum necessary for the discussion on Saturday.
Question: While NGS can obviously measure sequences, how can RNA abundances be measured?
C. Research group formation
Please indicate your group preferences in the meeting attendance projection form emailed to you. Because I need enough time to form groups matching with UM GIDAS members, the meeting attendance form will be closed at midnight on Thursday. Please submit early so that your group preference is fully considered. Your group information will be available in the Resource Google folder just before the meeting.
D. Zoom breakout rooms
UM GIDAS found the problem in self-selecting breakout rooms. I shouldn’t have made pre-assigned rooms. So, for this weekend, I hope everyone can join your group’s room on your own (make sure to update to the latest version of zoom). With the help of UM GIDAS, I will be able to be in the parent group this weekend.
Find one thing you are grateful for today!
Inhan Lee, Ph.D.