5th International Conference on Epigenetics and Bioengineering (EpiBio)

This award will support attendance by students and early career researchers at the 5th International Conference on Epigenetics and Bioengineering (EpiBio) on November 4-6, 2021 hosted on a virtual platform. The meeting will bring together interdisciplinary expertise in the field — allying biology, chemistry, physics, data processing (bioinformatics), and engineering to foster the development of novel methodologies and tools to answer biological questions in epigenetics.

The conference will feature 6 technical sessions, as well as panel discussions and a poster session. The conference will provide several opportunities for students to network with others (including leading professionals in their field of interest), present their work, learn about new technologies, and receive feedback on their writing. The conference will feature an additional "black in chromatin" networking event to highlight the achievements of black scientists and engineers in the field.

The funding will allow for the support of students from underrepresented groups in engineering, in addition to students from non-coastal colleges and HBCUs.

The conference will focus on various diverse areas of epigenetics and bioengineering, including biophysics of chromatin, emerging technologies, epigenetics in health and development, sensing epigenetics modifications, perturbing chromatin and epigenetic editing, and nuclear organization. The conference will allow attendees to gain an understanding of current advances and future prospects in epigenetic engineering.

The meeting will foster collaboration among scientists and engineers of various backgrounds from academia and industry, and provide an invaluable training opportunity for students and early career professionals. As fundamental knowledge of epigenetics and epigenetic tools can be used to increase our understanding biological processes and develop selective and effective therapeutics, research in this field has the potential to greatly impact society outside of the scientific community.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.