In light of COVID-19, this event is temporarily virtual. You can join via Zoom.
This time we’ll be speaking with Kurt Marsden, an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at NC State University.
Zebrafish have emerged as a powerful model organism to study both genetic and environmental causes of human disease. They hold particular promise for neurological and psychiatric disease, and in this seminar Dr. Marsden will discuss how his lab uses zebrafish larvae to define connections between genes and environmental factors, brain development, and behavior. He will describe how a gene called cyfip2 regulates auditory hypersensitivity that is associated with autism and anxiety, how a zebrafish model of CHARGE syndrome will help us to better understand the behavioral symptoms of that disease, and finally how exposure to toxins produced in algal blooms may be linked with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
Bio: Kurt Marsden is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at NC State University, where he established his lab in the fall of 2017. Through his research he aims to improve our understanding of the causes of neurological disease by uncovering genetic and environmental factors that impact brain development and behavior. He recently received a Goodnight Early Career Innovator award from NC State, and his lab’s research has been funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disease and Stroke (NINDS), the CHARGE Syndrome Foundation, and the Center for Human Health and the Environment (CHHE). He also teaches courses on the Fundamentals of Neuroscience and the Biology of Mental Illness. He is also an avid musician and sings with the North Carolina Master Chorale.
We hope you will join us from home with a slice (or several!) of pizza as we come together as a community while keeping a safe distance. There is no deadline to RSVP.
The Sigma Xi Pizza Lunches have a new name! Please check your inbox for future events with the name, Science by the Slice.
Science by the Slice is free and open to science journalists and science communicators of all stripes, as well as any interested members of the public. Feel free to extend this invitation to anyone who might want to attend.
The science talk may also be live streamed on Sigma Xi’s Facebook page, pending approval of the speaker. You can watch live or find the recording at www.facebook.com/SigmaXi/.
Did you miss some past pizza lunch talks? Check out our videos and podcasts of previous speakers: http://www.americanscientist.org/science/ Talks are co-organized with Science Communicators of North Carolina (SCONC). The RTP chapter of Sigma Xi is a co-organizer and co-sponsor, and encourages any interested scientists to get involved with the chapter and its upcoming events.
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