IGI Poster Session July 2022
News

July Poster Session Celebrates the Breadth of IGI Research

IGI News
By Andy Murdock

Since March, 2020, the IGI building at UC Berkeley has been buzzing with research, but live events and seminars all went virtual. You can do a lot over Zoom, but without in-person events, it has been hard for people across the institute — much less outside the institute — to get a feel for what projects are happening in IGI labs. As an institute whose innovation has always been fueled by collaboration that cuts across fields, we felt it was high time to kickstart the conversation on the research in IGI labs.

On July 8, 2022, the IGI hosted its first live poster session in over two years, and roughly 200 people from the IGI, UC Berkeley, UCSF, and UC Davis came out to talk science and learn about the different streams of work at the IGI from 30 presenters covering human health, sustainable agriculture, climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, the continued development of genome editing technology, and the public impact of our research. IGI poster sessions will be held twice a year moving forward — be sure to add your name to the IGI mailing list (bottom of page) if you want to be notified about upcoming events.

Attendees voted for their favorite posters and winners were announced in the IGI breezeway by Executive Director Brad Ringeisen. Winners were:

Human Health

  • Matthew Kan — 1st: An all non-viral CRISPR-Cas homology-directed repair (ANCHOR) genome editing platform for inborn errors of immunity
  • Naa Asheley Ashitey — 2nd: T cells activate an inflammation-driven immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy resistance program
  • Hesong Han & Rohit Sharma — 3rd: New lipid nanoparticle formulations for mRNA delivery

Climate & Sustainable Agriculture

  • Evan Groover — 1st: A functional genomics platform for tuning plant phenotype
  • Bethany Kolody — 2nd: Using genome-resolved metagenomics to understand rice paddy methane dynamics
  • Clara Williams — 3rd: E2F Transcriptional Regulation of DNA Methylation Writers and Erasers

 

Welcome sign at the IGI poster session 2022
Around 200 attendees checked in to the IGI front desk to enter the poster session
Visitors circulate amongst the posters and presenters in the IGI building at UC Berkeley
Visitors circulate amongst the posters and presenters in the IGI building at UC Berkeley
Laleh Coté at the IGI poster session
Laleh Coté presented her work on the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on support for student researchers
Bethany Kolody (left) explains her work on studying the microbial sources of methane emissions from rice fields
Bethany Kolody (left) explains her work on studying the microbial sources of methane emissions from rice fields
Evan Groover presents his poster on a new functional genomics platform for tuning plant phenotype
Evan Groover presents his poster on a new functional genomics platform for tuning plant phenotype
Naa Asheley Ashitey at the IGI Poster Session 2022
Naa Asheley Ashitey accepts her prize at the IGI Poster Session, July 2022
Evan Groover at the IGI Poster Session, July 2022
Evan Groover receives his prize at the IGI Poster Session, while Brad Ringeisen sings his praises

Andy Murdock IGI By Andy Murdock

Andy Murdock is a science writer, evolutionary biologist, and Communications Director for the Innovative Genomics Institute. Before joining the IGI, Andy managed research communications for UC Office of the President, edited journals for Informa Life Sciences, and worked in the travel industry as Managing Editor for Airbnb and Digital Editor for Lonely Planet. Andy’s writing has appeared in Vox, BBC, Discovery, the Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, and more. Andy has a Ph.D. in Integrative Biology from UC Berkeley, where he focused green plant phylogenetics, ancient fern lineages, and the evolution of plant genomes.