45th Annual Fall Symposium & Business Meeting at Gordon College

The 45^th Annual NESM Fall Symposium and Business Meeting was held on December 1, 2011 in Gordon College’s Ken Olson Science Center. Four technical presentations were given in the afternoon session. Dr. John Calarco, a Bauer Fellow at the FAS Center for Systems Biology at Harvard University, kicked off the afternoon session at 1:15 pm with a presentation on using light to illuminate alternative splicing decisions in the nervous system. His talk focused on the mechanisms and functional consequences of tissue-specific alternative pre-mRNA splicing during neuronal differentiation.  Dr. Yaping Dan, who is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University, presented his research on dramatic reduction of surface recombination by in situ surface passivation of silicon nanowires using near-field scanning photocurrent microscopy. After a brief coffee recess, two other scientists, also from Harvard University, presented their research. Dr. Praveen Arany addressed two aspects of wound healing associated with bone growth and oral healing, as revealed through microscopic observations. Dr. Josh Morgan’s talk focused on applying large scale serial electron microscopy to understanding the circuit organization of retinal ganglion cell axons through automated tape collection of sections and high speed acquisition of scanning electron micrographs. After a wonderful dinner served by Gordon students, the after dinner talk was given by Dr. Jennifer Ross of UMass Amherst. Dr. Ross presented her research on illuminating biological processes with fluorescence microscopy. She provided the attendees with fascinating results that were illustrated with beautiful images and time-lapse video captures, both generated by single molecule total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy of microtubule cytoskeleton. Dr. Ross made a highly technical presentation enjoyable, as done usually by any dynamic speaker. It is no wonder she has won several research and teaching awards in the last several years. The Business meeting elected new board members, highlighted the annual budget status, discussed several issues related to the future operations of NESM, including by-law changes and recruiting student members.  A majority of members agreed to reduce registration fees to attract more student members in order to grow the society.

Ming Zheng
NESM President-Elect