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Genetics Society of America's 51st Annual Drosophila Research Conference

Bethesda, MD (March 17, 2010) – More than 1600 basic research scientists who study genetic models in Drosophila (fruit flies) are expected to attend the 51st Annual Drosophila Research Conference in Washington, DC, April 7-11, 2010.

Representatives of the media are invited to attend the scientific presentations, including plenary, platform, poster and workshop sessions. Eligible media will receive complimentary registration (see below). Media may register at www.surveymonkey.com/s/DrosophilaMedia.

For hotel registration, please go to the meeting site at www.drosophila-conf.org/2010/pages/hotel.shtml#1.

I. SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM -- For the complete program and Schedule of Events, see www.drosophila-conf.org/cgi-bin/dros10-cgi/drosSOE.pl.

Plenary Sessions, Thursday, April 8, 8:30 AM – 12:00 Noon

• Control of Organ Size and Tumorigenesis by the Hippo Signaling Pathway. Duojia (DJ) Pan*(Johns Hopkins Univ School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland)
• Growth Control by the Fat-Hippo Pathway in Drosophila. Kenneth D. Irvine (Waksman Institute, Rutgers Univ, Piscataway, New Jersey)
• Sleep and Synaptic Plasticity. Chiara Cirelli (Univ of Wisconsin, Madison)
• Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms Underlying Ovarian Germline Stem Cell Regulation. Ting Xie (Stowers Institute, Kansas City, Missouri)
• Regulation and Function of Autophagy During Cell Survival and Death. Eric H. Baehrecke*, (Univ of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester)
• Cellular Mechanisms Controlling Oocyte Growth. Lynn Cooley* (Yale Univ School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut)

*Available after Plenary Session to speak with media.

Plenary Sessions, Sunday, April 11, 8:30 AM – 12:00 Noon

• TRP Channels: From Sensory Signaling to Neurodegenerative Disease. Craig Montell (Johns Hopkins Univ School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland)
• The Role of Dscam Proteins in Regulating Neural Circuit Assembly in Drosophila. Larry Zipursky * (Univ of California, Los Angeles and Howard Hughes Medical Institute)
• Cell Polarity – Understanding Pattern Formation at the Cellular Level. Elisabeth Knust* (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany)
• The Process of Myoblast Fusion in Skeletal Muscle Cells. Elizabeth Chen* (Johns Hopkins Univ School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland)
• Microtubule Motors and the Oocyte Spindle. Sharyn Endow* (Duke Univ Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina)
• How We Study the Evolution of Novel Complex Traits. Antonia Monteiro* (Yale Univ, New Haven, Connecticut)

*Available after Plenary Session to speak with media.

Platform Sessions on Thursday, Friday and Saturday (April 8-10) will cover the following 16 topics:

• Cell Biology and Signal Transduction
• Evolution and Quantitative Genetics
• Physiology and Aging
• Neurogenetics and Neural Development
• Gametogenesis and Organogenesis
• Regulation of Gene Expression
• Cell Division and Growth Control
• Techniques and Functional Genomics
• Chromatin and Epigenetics
• Drosophila Models of Human Disease
• Stem Cells
• Pattern Formation
• RNA Biology
• Cell Cycle and Cell Death
• Neural Physiology and Behavior
• Immunity and Pathogenesis

For more information on these sessions, please see the Schedule of Events, www.drosophila-conf.org/cgi-bin/dros10-cgi/drosSOE.pl . Abstracts selected for presentation will be available for review online on March 17, 2010.

II. MEDIA PARTICIPATION

Media Eligibility:

The 51st Annual Drosophila Research Conference is open to media representatives, including those from bona fide print, broadcast, radio, and online venues, and freelance writers on a verifiable assignment from an established news source.

In addition to completing the online registration form, freelancers must send the GSA Public Relations and Communications Office a confirmation of assignment letter from their editor on the news organization's letterhead.

Complimentary meeting registration will be available to members of the media who provide appropriate press credentials and identification.

• All scientific sessions at the 2010 Annual Drosophila Research Conference are open to registered members of the media.
  • Registered journalists must wear/display their GSA press badge at all times while onsite at the meeting.
  • Exchanging, loaning or borrowing of the GSA press badge is strictly prohibited.

• Camera crews filming in onsite meeting areas must make prior arrangements with the GSA Public Relations and Communications Office.
  • Filming inside the scientific sessions is prohibited.
  • Filming inside the exhibit area is prohibited.

• GSA reserves the right to bar from this and future meetings any journalist who deliberately promotes the viewpoint of one company or institution, or who attempts to solicit manuscripts, advertising, or subscriptions from registrants or exhibitors.

GSA does not issue media credentials to the following: any publication's advertising, marketing, public relations or sales representatives; publishers, editors or reporters from exhibiting companies; "in-house" newsletters or promotional publications staff; public relations representatives of exhibitors or educational institutions; writers creating analyses or reports sold as a commodity to customers; financial analysts; medical education companies; or other individuals who are not actually reporting on the content of the 51st Annual Drosophila Research Conference. NOTE: Bloggers or reporters who are plenary or poster presenters must register for the meeting at http://www.drosophila-conf.org/2010/pages/register.shtml.

Media Contact Information

For all press registration and general media relations inquiries, or to request an interview with a particular speaker at the 2010 51st Annual Drosophila Research Conference, please contact:

Phyllis Edelman
Manager, Public Relations and Communications
Genetics Society of America
E-Mail: pedelman@genetics-gsa.org
Tel: 301-634-7302

ABOUT THE GENETICS SOCIETY OF AMERICA

Founded in 1931, the Genetics Society of America (GSA) is the professional membership organization for geneticists and science educators. Its more than 4,000 members work to advance knowledge in the basic mechanisms of inheritance, from the molecular to the population level. The GSA is dedicated to promoting research in genetics and to facilitating communication among geneticists worldwide through The Genetics Society of America Conferences including the biennial conference on Model Organisms to Human Biology, an interdisciplinary meeting on current and cutting edge topics in genetics research, and annual and biennial meetings that focus on the genetics of particular organisms. GSA publishes GENETICS, the leading journal in the field. For more information about GSA, please visit www.genetics-gsa.org.

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