Teaching Effectively – Better Learning with Less Time Preparing
Spencer Benson, University of Maryland and 2011 Carski Foundation Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Awardee

In this interactive session we will explore the adage that often in teaching “Less is More” by focusing on how faculty can work more effectively to promote student learning in a variety of course types.  Through careful planning, intelligent course design and integration of technology it is possible to achieve Less is More.  It is possible to reduce course preparation, management and delivery time while maintaining rigor, content coverage and deep learning.  The session will model various approaches to teaching that can be adapted to both small and large classes.

Host-Virus Interactions: A New Focus on Fat

Melanie Ott, University of California, San Francisco

Several RNA viruses use intracellular fat droplets to support different steps of their life cycle. Some intracellular bacteria and parasites usurp host lipid droplets or encode their own lipid biosynthesis machinery, thus allowing production of fat droplets independently of their host. Although many mechanistic details of host/pathogen lipid droplet interactions are unknown, a picture emerges in which the unique cellular architecture and energy stored in lipid droplets are important in the replication of diverse pathogens. I will discuss the close interaction of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection with intracellular lipids. Two viral proteins, the nucleocapsid core and the phosphoprotein NS5A, localize to the surface of lipid droplets, a critical step in the viral life cycle. We find that this step requires the activity of cellular diacylglycerol acyltransferase 1 (DGAT1), one of two triglyceride-synthesizing enzymes in the endoplasmic reticulum. The molecular mechanisms and therapeutic implications of these findings will be discussed.

Adventures in Personal Genomics and Whole Omics Profiling

Michael Snyder, Stanford University

Personalized medicine is expected to benefit from the combination of genomic information with the global monitoring of molecular components and physiological states. To ascertain whether this can be achieved, we determined the whole genome sequence of an individual at high accuracy and performed an integrated Personal Omics Profiling (iPOP) analysis, combining genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic, and autoantibodyomic information, over a 21-month period that included healthy and two virally infected states. Our iPOP analysis of blood components revealed extensive, dynamic and broad changes in diverse molecular components and biological pathways across healthy and disease conditions. Importantly, genomic information was also used to estimate medical risks, including Type 2 Diabetes, whose onset was observed during the course of our study. Our study demonstrates that longitudinal personal omics profiling can relate genomic information to global functional omics activity for physiological and medical interpretation of healthy and disease states.

Beyond Assessing Knowledge – Card Sorting, Superheroes, and Moving Towards Measuring Biological Expertise among Undergraduates

Kimberly Tanner, San Francisco State University, 2010 National Science Foundation CAREER Grant Awardee and 2011 Society for College Science Teachers Outstanding Undergraduate Science Teacher Awardee

How do biology experts structure their thinking about the concepts in their discipline?  How is this different from the way those new to the field approach these same ideas? In this interactive presentation, Dr. Kimberly Tanner will engage the audience in thinking about expert and novice thinking in biology by drawing upon her own research that integrates methodologies from science education and cognitive psychology. Approaches to understanding and measuring biological expertise are strongly tied to ideas put forward by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the recently published, Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action.