Upcoming events hosted by or involving Genetics Otago will be listed here. Please check back regularly for updates. A calendar of events that may be of interest to our members can be found at the bottom of this page and in the sidebar of other pages on this site, please note that this includes events hosted outside of Genetics Otago.
GO Annual Symposium – New Date Confirmed!
As usual, the Symposium will highlight the fantastic research being done by GO members from around the country through presentations, posters and awards. We are aware that this date clashes with a couple of other conferences happening in NZ and we apologise if this means you are unable to attend.
Date: Thursday, 20th February 2025
Time: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Venue: TBC
Programme
A draft programme will be available here soon.
Registration
Registration for this event is now open via the button below. If you had already registered for the event scheduled for December we ask you to please register again so that we have accurate numbers for catering. If you made a payment at that time, this should have been refunded to you – please contact us if you don’t think this has been processed.
Registration will remain open until Monday the 3rd of February, however we hope that by opening now, prior to end of year budget cut-offs, you maybe able to charge the registration fee to any surplus in your 2024 University accounts.
Registration Fee
Due to budget constraints, we will be charging a $50 per person registration fee for all attendees to subsidise the costs associated with the Symposium. We have received confirmation that this registration fee can be paid from S accounts, and if you are in a position to make a donation on top of this fee, we would gladly receive it. However, we do not want the payment to be a barrier to attendance, so if you are not in a position to make a payment, please contact us go@otago.ac.nz.
Payment Methods
Payments from an S account (or other University account) can be journaled to Genetics Otago account GL.10.LH.A14.2541 via your finance associate. Please include the surname(s) of the registrants that the payment covers in the narration.
If you need to make payment using funds from outside the University this can be arranged via the Cashier’s Office. Please contact us for details (go@otago.ac.nz).
Awards
The Annual Genetics Otago Awards including The Genetics Otago Award, Outstanding Mentor Awards, Student Supervisor Award, Publication Awards, Poster Awards and Science Communication Prize will be presented at the conclusion of the Symposium and nominations for these are now open.
All award nominations should be submitted by email to go@otago.ac.nz.
Please note: Award nominations are now open until Monday 3rd February at 5pm.
Full details of the awards can be found here: Award Details.
Calendar of Events
The below is a calendar of events hosted by GO as well as events hosted by others that may be of interest to our members. If you have an event you would like us to include please contact us here.
The circle of life: connecting cell division with cell fate
About Professor Horsfield’s research
Julia’s current research originates from her fascination with how cells ‘decide’ what they are going to be in a growing, developing embryo. At the University of Otago, Julia started working on Cohesin, a protein that connects cell division with cell fate decisions. Cohesin controls chromosome segregation during cell division, and it also organises the DNA of non-dividing cells to select genes for expression. Using zebrafish, Julia’s group determined how mutation of Cohesin contributes to human developmental disorders, the “Cohesinopathies”.
Her group also studies how genes first come to be switched on in the embryo by Cohesin-mediated chromatin structure. She was the first to show that mutations in Cohesin may be linked with leukaemia; a finding later confirmed by cancer genome sequencing projects. Her recent work focuses on the mechanism of Cohesin’s contribution to leukaemia, including the sensitivity of Cohesin-mutant cancers to specific drugs.
This lecture will be followed by light refreshments, tea, coffee & juice.
Streaming information for Professor Julia Horsfield’s IPL
This event will be live-streamed, from 5:25pm Tuesday 8 September 2020, at the following web address:
Professor Julia Horsfield’s IPL video stream
Please note: Live streaming does not work with Internet Explorer.
Philip Getz and James Gorrie two of the Department of Botany’s BTNY495/PLBI495 students. (See attached poster.)
More details on our events page. Please register here.
More details and registration.
Activins, cancer & oocyte quality
More info here: Dr Karen Reader Seminar
Zoom connection available:
Join from PC, Mac, iOS or Android: https://otago.zoom.us/j/98782196598?pwd=UE9adHZXN2RCUEZPY09OdVJrVi81dz09
Password: 198938
Professor Julia Horsfield
Department of Pathology, University of Otago
‘Cohesin mutations are synthetic lethal with stimulation of WNT signaling’
Mutations in genes encoding subunits of the cohesin complex are common in several cancers, but may also expose druggable vulnerabilities. We generated isogenic MCF10A cell lines with deletion mutations of genes encoding cohesin subunits SMC3, RAD21 and STAG2 and screened for synthetic lethality with 3,009 FDA-approved compounds. The screen identified several compounds that interfere with transcription, DNA damage repair and the cell cycle. Unexpectedly, one of the top ‘hits’ was a GSK3 inhibitor, an agonist of Wnt signaling. We show that sensitivity to GSK3 inhibition is likely due to stabilisation of b-catenin in cohesin mutant cells, and that Wnt-responsive gene expression is highly sensitized in STAG2-mutant CMK leukemia cells. Moreover, Wnt activity is enhanced in zebrafish mutant for cohesin subunit rad21. Our results suggest that cohesin mutations could progress oncogenesis by enhancing Wnt signaling, and that targeting the Wnt pathway may represent a novel therapeutic strategy for cohesin mutant cancers.
Zoom Link:
https://otago.zoom.us/j/96479355495?pwd=RVR3L2NKb2RHZVM0TVE0QW96aFJpdz09#success
Password: 879963
Every little thing she does is magic: How our mother’s health affects our own
About Professor Jasoni’s research
When a mother is unwell during pregnancy, her offspring have increased lifelong risk for neurological disease. Christine’s research interest is in how the brain forms before we are born, with a particular focus on understanding how a mother’s health during this critical period of life can impact the unborn baby’s brain; and increase neurological disease risk.
Her group’s work has been published in some of the top international journals, and her trainees have gone on to prestigious positions nationally and abroad. Christine’s laboratory is situated in the Centre for Neuroendocrinology, among a group of researchers who are world-leaders in discovering how the brain controls some of our most essential bodily functions. Christine’s reach into the neuroscience community at Otago, however, is much broader. She is the Director of the 300-researcher-strong Brain Health Research Centre, is a former Director of the Neuroscience Degree Programme, and has won numerous awards for her neuroscience teaching.
This lecture will be followed by light refreshments, tea, coffee & juice.
Streaming information for Professor Christine Jasoni’s IPL
This event will be live-streamed, from 5:25pm Monday 5 October 2020, at the following web address:
Professor Christine Jasoni’s IPL video stream
Test your connection to the streaming service here:
Test Stream
Please note: Live streaming does not work with Internet Explorer.
John Smaillie Tennant Lecture on Wednesday, 7 October 2020 featuring Associate Professor David Orlovich from the Department of Botany. He will give his lecture on “The evolution of truffle-like fungi”.
See attached poster for more details
Tennant Lecture DAO 7.10.2020
PhD Student Presentations
Sai Shyam
“Developing circulating tumour cells as a model to identify tumour-specific epigenetic signatures of colorectal cancer metastasis”
Ben Halliday
“Building a Brain – From Phenotypes to Genes, and Back Again”
More details here:
200731 PSS_Sai & Ben
