Developmental Biology of the Sea Urchin and Marine Invertebrates (DBSUMI) Meeting XXVII

Meeting Rationale. In October 2023, the international community of who use marine invertebrates as research models to address fundamental questions in developmental, cell, ecological, and evolutionary biology will meet for The Developmental Biology of the Sea Urchin and other Marine Invertebrates (DBSUMI). This will be the 27th forum for this meeting, which has been held

approximately every 18 months since 1980. Throughout the years, these meetings featured topics relevant to a broad range of biologists working on subjects ranging from gamete interactions, egg activation, cell fate determination and patterning, axis specification, gene expression, genomics, morphogenesis, cell signaling, evolution, ecology, immunology, neurogenesis, regeneration and

experimental technology. Importantly, advances in these fields apply not only to sea urchins but more broadly across biological systems. To facilitate these broad findings, the original “sea urchin community” has intentionally expanded the field by inviting researchers working on the cell and developmental biology

of other marine invertebrate models including tunicates, hemichordates, cephalochordates, molluscs, polychaetes, cnidarians, ctenophores, and sponges. Each model has its own unique ability to answer fundamental questions that can solve questions related to human development, health and disease. The conceptual basis of comparative studies lies in their ability to identify commonalities of mechanisms

and processes across multiple taxa, which in turn reveal unifying principles of biology. Famous examples for major discoveries arising from studies in marine organisms include our knowledge of cell divisions and cyclins, and the role of microtubule motor kinesins, and the development of GFP and other fluorescent proteins as widely-used tools in biomedical science.

Thus, our goal is to establish DBSUMI as the “must attend” conference for labs using marine invertebrate model systems to answer a broad range of questions that are highly relevant to human development and health. One central focus of the program is to facilitate in-depth discussions among scientists. The combination of talks, discussion periods, and

informal social gatherings allow the integration of findings from diverse systems. DBSUMI XXVII and its future iterations will be indispensable for the growth and vitality of this scientific community, as unique comparative approach across a wide range of marine invertebrate models is underrepresented at

any cell, evolutionary and/or developmental biology meetings. To continue expanding and modernizing the meeting, the organizers are introducing new initiatives and seeking NIH meeting funding to support their implementation. Specific Objectives. We are inviting more PIs, post-docs, and graduate students from non-sea urchin

labs to this meeting than in previous iterations. Many of these labs use aquatic models for human disease with NIH-funded research programs (e.g. within NIGMS, NIEHS, NINDS, and NICHD). To highlight the relevance of marine invertebrate research for understanding human disease mechanisms, we are continuing to hold a dedicated plenary session “Aquatic Models for Human Disease” in the

DBSUMI XXVII meeting. Additionally, we will continue the highly successful pre-meeting workshops directed by experts on cutting-edge technologies that have be originally developed in other model systems and require tweaking to be applicable in marine invertebrates. These workshops are an essential aspect of the meeting because there is currently no other forum where labs primarily working

on marine invertebrates can share their technical expertise. DBSUMI has consistently promoted the careers of junior scientists, but for the first time, we are scheduling “lightning talks”, as well as lunchtime career table themes. These events are designed to increase participation of junior scientists

while at the same time encouraging network building with senior scientists. Finally, we are promoting a plenary session made up of speakers who are experts on ways to increase the diversity of URM and persons with disabilities. Past meetings have secured funding from the NSF, Society for Developmental Biology (SDB)

and vendors to support primarily students and postdocs to attend. This year we are seeking funding from the NIH (NICHD, NIAID, NIEHS and ORIP) to defray the cost of initiatives designed specifically to foster a sense of community among trainees and make the meeting available to a wider community. We are requesting funds for 1) room and board for an extra night’s stay for 30 workshop participants, 2)

event space rental for the workshops, 3) funding to support providing a virtual attendance option and 4) travel awards for students and postdocs.