Optogenetic Technologies and Applications

American Institute Of Chemical Engineers, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

This award will support early career researcher attendance at the Optogenetic Technologies and Applications Conference, which will be held in Boston, MA on December 8-10 of 2019. The conference aims to promote collaborative, interdisciplinary research by bringing engineers and life science researchers together at the same venue. The conference is designed to be highly interactive, with talks, poster sessions, panel discussions and informal meetings. The conference is organized into sessions on optogenetic technologies, optogenetics in biomedicine and optogenetics in bioengineering. There will be ample opportunity for sharing the latest research results and for networking. Optogenetics is an emerging technique that allows researchers to use light in order to control living cells that have been modified to be light sensitive. Optogenetics has tremendous potential for use in research, medicine and industry. The Optogenetic Technologies and Applications Conference will be used to showcase the novel and cutting-edge research conducted in this field. The conference aims to provide a venue for the following: (1) scientific presentations from a diverse group of researchers, including biologists, chemists, and engineers; (2) bringing together members of industry and academia to showcase different perspectives and approaches, as well as to encourage potential collaborations; (3) encouraging active participation of graduate and post-doctoral researchers who represent the future of the field; (4) bringing scientists and engineers together to discuss their disciplines and approaches, and to motivate new research into barriers limiting the development of optogenetics in a variety of fields; (5) scientists who are from underrepresented groups to present their research and to network. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.