PBEE Welcome Lunch for new students

(PBEE faculty, students and postdocs invited)

Meghan Duffy , School of Biology, Georgia Tech
Title: Eco-evolutionary dynamics of Daphnia-parasite interactions
Hosts: Jaap deRoode, Michele Parsons
http://www.biology.gatech.edu/faculty/meghan-duffy/

PBEE Faculty/ Student Forum BYO lunch- Led by deRoode & Gerardo

9/18/09

Irwin Waldman, Department of Psychology, Emory University
Title: Dopamine genes and children's disruptive behavior disorders

Abstract: Recent advances in genetics have introduced new possibilities for exploring the genetic basis of psychological traits and disorders. These possibilities are accompanied by significant challenges in prioritizing which genes and DNA markers to select for study, and in choosing statistical genetic analytic strategies that are efficient and powerful for detecting genetic associations. In this talk, I highlight these issues and their importance for behavior genetic research by presenting results from studies of association between childhood disruptive disorders and markers in several dopamine candidate genes, in particular the dopamine transporter gene (DAT1), the dopamine D4 receptor gene (DRD4), and catechol-o-methyl transferase (COMT), in a large sample of clinically-referred and non-disordered children and their parents and siblings. Specifically, I present results on the replicability and consistency of associations between these genes and ADHD, the specificity of associations to particular diagnostic subtypes or symptom dimensions and heterogeneity due to age-of-onset, the association between these genes and comorbid disorders (i.e., Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Conduct Disorder), and associations with executive function measures that represent putative endophenotypes for ADHD. The results for COMT in particular highlight the value of a gene-based approach to association.

Host: Yun Tao
http://www.psychology.emory.edu/clinical/waldman/index.html

Karen Conneely, Department of Genetics, Emory University
Title: Statistical analysis of DNA methylation array data
Abstract: TBA
Host: Mike Zwick
http://genetics.emory.edu/faculty/faculty.php?facultyid=540

John Lucchesi, Department of Biology, Emory University
Title: Epigenetics: the "other" fodder for natural selection
Host: Les Real
http://biology.emory.edu/research/Lucchesi/index.html

10/9/09

NO SEMINAR-FALL BREAK Oct. 12th & 13th

Robert Tauxe, Foodborne & Diarrheal Diseases Branch, CDC
Title: Foodborne Infections:  A secret life of human enteric bacterial pathogens in plants? 

Abstract: Large foodborne outbreaks have linked bacteria that are pathogenic in humans, like Salmonella and E. coli O157, to fresh produce items that are eaten almost straight from the field with little further processing.  The frequency of produce related outbreaks is increasing, and the outbreaks are growing larger over several decades, indicating that this is an important part of the overall burden of foodborne disease on public health.  We think of the enteric bacteria as being adapted to life in the vertebrate intestinal tract.    However, phytopathologists and food microbiologists have made a number of recent observations that indicate that these enteric bacteria are also surprisingly well adapted for life on and in some food plants.  They survive on and in the plants, can invade them easily, and may take advantage of the reproductive cycle of plants to colonize seeds and fruits.  Do these simple bacteria have multi-host life cycles?   Could this be a strategy to reach the intestinal tracts of animals that feed on the plants?   

Host: Jaap deRoode

Gonzalo Vazquez-Prokopec, Postdoc in Department of Environmental Studies, Emory University
Title: The role of human movement in the propagation of dengue virus in urban environments

Abstract: Individual movement patterns play a significant role in modulating human-vector contact rates, affecting the transmission, spread and persistence of vector-borne pathogens and drug resistance. Despite its eco-epidemiological relevance, our understanding of the relationship between human movement and vector-borne disease transmission remains limited, in part owing both to the lack of precise tools to quantify human spatial behavior and the challenges of data analysis. In this talk I will present a conceptual model that illustrates how individual human movement patterns influence vector-borne disease dynamics, and the extensions of such framework to include the importance of social contact networks in the eco-epidemiology of vector-borne diseases. We are currently applying novel GPS technologies, spatio-temporal analysis and network models to quantify the effect of human movement in the spread of dengue virus in the cities of Cairns in coastal Australia and Iquitos in the Peruvian Amazon. Spatio-temporal analysis of a dengue epidemic in Cairns showed that movement of people was responsible of a secondary focus of transmission located >200 m (the upper limit for Aedes aegypti mosquito dispersal) from the original index case. To quantify the effect of human movement in the propagation of dengue virus in Iquitos we deployed GPS data-loggers to 61 randomly selected residents who wore the units at all times for a 15-day period. The GPS data allowed us generate an empiric bipartite contact network linking participants to the places they visited. Topological analysis shows that the structure of such network follows a scale-free structure characterized by a high asymmetry in the degree distribution of nodes (evidenced by the presence of “super-sites” and “super-spreaders”). The effects of different node-targeting strategies on the topological structure of such contact network were evaluated. The consideration of human spatial behavior and the network of locations where infective human-vector contacts may occur will allow a better understanding of the dynamics of vector-borne disease transmission in urban environments, and help improve current disease surveillance and control programs.

Host: Uriel Kitron
http://www.envs.emory.edu/faculty/prokopec.html

PBEE grad students' presentations
Eleanore Sternberg, Title: Environmental variability in host-parasite interactions
Jingping Yang, Title: Noncanonical role of cohesin in Drosophila

Jamie Lloyd-Smith, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, UCLA
Title: Population dynamics of zoonotic pathogens: leptospirosis, monkeypox and beyond

Abstract: I will discuss the use of dynamical and statistical modeling to understand the population dynamics of zoonotic pathogens in their reservoir, spillover, and human phases.  I will focus on two current projects: investigation of the causes of periodic outbreaks of leptospirosis in California sea lions, weighing the roles of population immunity versus environmental conditions; and analysis of available data on human monkeypox in central Africa, aiming to untangle the contributions of zoonotic versus human-to-human transmission and assess the risk that this pathogen may emerge to fill the niche left vacant by smallpox eradication. 

Hosts: Les Real, Beth Kochin
http://www.eeb.ucla.edu/indivfaculty.php?FacultyKey=10440

PBEE Faculty/ Student Forum BYO lunch

11/20/09

PBEE grad students' presentations
Igor Albizua, Title: Imprinting establishment and maintenance in Down Syndrome
Erin Keebaugh, Title: Molecular evolution of a candidate Drosophila receptor for parasitic wasp eggs
Beth Kochin, Title: Dynamics of malaria infections

NO SEMINAR- THANKSGIVING BREAK

Kerry Oliver, Department of Entomology, University of Georgia
Title: The role of bacteriophage in symbiont-based defense in aphids
Abstract: TBA
Hosts: Nicole Gerardo, Ben Parker
http://www.ent.uga.edu/personnel/faculty/oliver.htm