MBL Public Events

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The Jack and Rosalyn Rosenbluth Endowed Lecture in Neurobiology

MBL Course Events Title: "What a Coincidence – Octopus Neurons and the Sense of Hearing" Speaker: Lisa Goodrich, PhD, Vice-Chair and Professor of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School Abstract: Animals move through a complex soundscape made up of many different types of sounds that simultaneously impinge on the inner ear. This information is encoded by the primary sensory neurons of the cochlea, which are called spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs). SGNs transmit information about sounds frequencies and intensities from hair cells to target neurons in the cochlear nucleus complex (CNC). Different neurons capture different features of the sound stimuli, with sound frequency playing a prominent role in how inputs are organized. One neuron that breaks this rule is the octopus neuron. Unlike other CNC neurons, octopus neurons receive many SGN inputs (as many as 60) that cover up to a third of the frequency range in the cochlea. These inputs are arranged in a tonotopic manner along the octopus cell dendrites and on the cell body. In… Event Type: Courses. Named Endowed Lecture. Evening Course Seminars: Monday Night Neuroscience Seminars. Monday, June 16, 2025, 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM. Speck Auditorium 10 MBL Street Woods Hole, MA.

The Frank R. Lillie Lecture in Embryology

MBL Course Events Title: "Fertilization and the Activation of Development" Speaker: Laurinda Jaffe, PhD, Professor of Cell Biology, University of Connecticut Health Center Abstract: I will describe some of the basic events of fertilization, beginning with how sperm and egg cell membranes fuse so that male and female genomes can come together to make a new individual. How is it that only one sperm can get in? I will discuss that and then describe some of what occurs as the oocyte within the ovary prepares for fertilization and development. , Frank Rattray “F.R.” Lillie was born in Toronto, Canada in 1870. He attended the University of Toronto as an undergraduate with the aim of studying ministry but became disillusioned and ultimately majored in the natural sciences. It was during his senior year that he developed his lifelong interest in embryology. After graduating in 1891, he moved to the U.S. to undertake a fellowship studying morphology at Clark University under the tutelage of Charles O. Whitman. Soon thereafter,… Event Type: Courses. Tuesday, June 17, 2025, 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM. Speck Auditorium.

Juneteenth - MBL Closed

Event Type: Other. Thursday, June 19, 2025.

The Richard G. Kessel Lecture in Embryology

Title: "The Modern Mollusc: Integrating Embryology and Genomics to Understand an Animal Phylum" Speaker: Deirdre Lyons, PhD, Associate Professor of Marine Biology, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego Abstract: Molluscs are familiar invertebrates, ranging from the humble garden slug and the vibrant seashells adorning beaches to the intelligent, shell-less octopus. As one of the largest, most diverse, and visually striking groups of marine animals, molluscs have been used by humans for centuries, valued for materials like pearls and as culinary staples such as pulpo, escargot, and moules. Marine molluscs have also been pivotal in biological research. Notably, studies on a squid species led to the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for elucidating the ionic mechanisms of action potentials, and work with a sea slug species contributed to the 2000 Nobel Prize for discovering the biological mechanisms of memory storage.  Despite these contributions, biomedicine has… Event Type: Courses. Named Endowed Lecture. Friday, June 20, 2025, 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM. Speck Auditorium 10 MBL Street Woods Hole, MA.

Friday Evening Lecture Series: “Zebrafish at the Frontline: Investigating Epilepsy Genes and Cultivating New Science Leaders” - Gerald Downes, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Lectures are open to the public for in-person and virtual attendance. No registration required for in-person attendance. Doors open at 7:30 PM, lectures start at 8 PM.“Zebrafish at the Frontline: Investigating Epilepsy Genes and Cultivating New Science Leaders” Gerald Downes, Professor, Biology Department, University of Massachusetts Amherst, This lecture is presented in celebration of Juneteenth Registration link: https://mbl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Tozfhd2IQn-OG5nkHA9hpQ, More info coming soon! Virtual Information: https://mbl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Tozfhd2IQn-OG5nkHA9hpQ. Event Type: Friday Evening Lecture. Friday, June 20, 2025, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM. Cornelia Clapp Auditorium 7 MBL Street Woods Hole, MA 02543. For more info visit www.mbl.edu.

The Kensal E. Van Holde Lectureship in Physiology

Title: "Bringing Bioelectricity to Light" Speaker: Adam Cohen, PhD, Professor of Chemistry, Chemical Biology and Physics, Harvard University Abstract: Every cell is encased in a lipid membrane, and this membrane can support a voltage difference between the cell's outside and inside.  The membrane voltage tugs on all transmembrane proteins and affects many membrane transport processes; yet the voltage is not directly visible.  We have developed molecular reporters, instrumentation, and software for mapping bioelectrical signals across scales, from sub-cellular details of dendritic integration to large-scale patterns in developing embryos.  I will discuss some of the unresolved mysteries of bioelectricity and how one might tackle them.  Kensal E. van Holde (1928-2019) received both B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Wisconsin. Trained as a physical chemist, his early interests lay in the synthetic polymer field, which led to initial employment in industry. Dr. van Holde returned to academia in… Event Type: Courses. Named Endowed Lecture. Saturday, June 21, 2025, 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM. Cornelia Clapp Auditorium.

The Gail and Elkan Blout Lecture

Title: "Developing New Drugs for Malaria using Target-Based and Phenotypic-Based Approaches" Speaker: Margaret Phillips, PhD, Professor and Chair of Biochemistry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Abstract: Malaria continues to be one of the most deadly and high impact global infectious diseases, yet drug resistance threatens treatment and control programs.  Significant progress has been made in recent years to identify new classes of compounds for malaria treatment that target uncompromised parasite proteins and pathways. Both phenotypic and target-based high throughput screens (HTS) have served as the starting points to identify drug like compounds for chemistry optimization programs, and the targets of phenotypic hits have been identified by genetic and biochemical approaches. Our group used a target-based HTS to identify inhibitors of P. falciparum dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) and through a subsequent chemistry program we identified an inhibitor called DSM265 that reached clinical… Event Type: Courses. Named Endowed Lecture. Tuesday, June 24, 2025, 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM. C.V. Starr, Room 207.

The Irvin Isenberg Lectureship

Title: "Herpes Virus Fluidizes the Nucleus" Speaker: Liam Holt, PhD, Associate Professor, Institute for Systems Genetics, New York University School of Medicine Abstract: Molecular processes are profoundly influenced by the biophysical properties of the cell interior. Macromolecular crowding, elastic confinement and active fluctuations all influence how molecules move and assemble. However, the mechanisms that control these physical properties, and the processes that they impact remain poorly understood, especially in the nucleus. We hypothesized that some viruses might change the biophysical properties of the nucleus to favor viral survival and replication. We found that Herpes Simplex Virus 1 (HSV-1) increases the mesoscale fluidity of the nucleus. The HSV-1 protein ICP4 caused fluidization and enabled growth of synthetic nuclear condensates. Conditions that decreased nuclear fluidity inhibited the formation of viral replication compartment condensates and reduced infectious virus production. Together,… Event Type: Courses. Named Endowed Lecture. Tuesday, June 24, 2025, 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM. Cornelia Clapp Auditorium 7 MBL Street Woods Hole, MA 02543.

Making Waves - Science Story Slam

Join the Transom Story Lab and Atlantic Public Media for an unforgettable night of true, personal storytelling by scientists. These are not lectures—these are moving, funny, and human tales about the scientific journey, told on stage without notes at the Community Hall in Woods Hole. The show, inspired by The Moth Radio Hour (which is produced by APM in Woods Hole), will feature music from local musician Carla Kihlstedt, and will be hosted by public radio legend Jay Allison. A few (willing) audience members will have the opportunity to throw their name in a hat to tell their science story on the theme: Making Waves. The Slam is the culminating event of a three-day storytelling workshop for 12 scientists, led by the Transom Story Lab from Atlantic Public Media. Come celebrate curiosity, creativity, and the power of storytelling to bridge the gap between science and society. Event Type: Other. Tuesday, June 24, 2025, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM. Community Hall 68 Water Street Woods Hole, MA 02543. For more info visit www.zeffy.com.

Friday Evening Lecture Series: “From Planarians to Parasites: Mechanisms Regulating Germ Cells and Developmental Plasticity” - Phil Newmark, Morgridge Institute for Research

Lectures are open to the public for in-person and virtual attendance. No registration required for in-person attendance. Doors open at 7:30 PM, lectures start at 8 PM. “From Planarians to Parasites: Mechanisms Regulating Germ Cells and Developmental Plasticity” Phil Newmark, Burnell R. Roberts Chair in Regenerative Biology, Morgridge Institute for Research Registration link: https://mbl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_MinAjX0QTx2vVt3-6oUPzgLecture Abstract: Planarians are free-living flatworms with extraordinary regenerative abilities. In addition to their somatic tissues, planarians can also regenerate their germ cells. Newmark will review his studies on the systemic control of reproductive system development and regeneration in planarians. He will then present recent work identifying niche-derived factors that regulate germ cell development. This work will show how such signals are deployed differently between planarians and their parasitic cousins, the schistosomes, with important implications for the… Virtual Information: https://mbl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_MinAjX0QTx2vVt3-6oUPzg. Event Type: Friday Evening Lecture. Friday, June 27, 2025, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM. Cornelia Clapp Auditorium 7 MBL Street Woods Hole, MA 02543. For more info visit www.mbl.edu.

The Nancy S. Rafferty Lectureship

Title: "The Past has Left its Traces on the World: Deeply Conserved Synteny and the Evolution of Animals" Speaker: Dan Rokhsar, PhD, Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley Abstract: Animals arose more than six hundred million years ago, and by the end of the Cambrian had diversified into today's phylum-level forms. This early history is obscured by the fact that the first animals were soft-bodied and left only enigmatic fossils. Here we take a comparative genomic approach to inferring the early evolutionary history of early animals and the subsequent events that gave rise to vertebrates. We show that animal chromosomes are generally stable over hundreds of millions of years (with notable exceptions), and exhibit characteristic modes of evolutionary change. Some gene linkages extend even further back in time, allowing early gene linkages to be polarized. We use these deeply conserved aspects of genome organization to (1) show that ctenophores rather than sponges are the… Event Type: Courses. Named Endowed Lecture. Saturday, June 28, 2025, 1:30 PM – 3:30 PM. Speck Auditorium 10 MBL Street Woods Hole, MA.

The Jean & Katsuma Dan Lectureship in Physiology

Title: "Physics of Structure Formation in Living Systems" Speaker: Stephan Grill, PhD, Director, Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, MPI-CBG Dresden Abstract: One of the most remarkable examples of self-organized structure formation is the development of a complex organism from a single fertilized egg. With the identification of many molecules that participate in this process, attention has now turned to capturing the physical principles that govern the emergence of biological form at the mesoscale. Living systems are special in the sense that they structure themselves through processes that convert chemical energy into mechanical work. In this talk I will provide a brief introduction into 'Active Matter Physics’ and discuss how the surface of a cell can generate an active stresses that can drive its reshaping, or the reshaping of many cells that are collectively organized into a tissue. I will end with a report of our efforts to understand how principal body axes are established in… Event Type: Courses. Named Endowed Lecture. Thursday, July 3, 2025, 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM. Cornelia Clapp Auditorium 7 MBL Street Woods Hole, MA 02543.

Independence Day - MBL Closed

Event Type: Other. Friday, July 4, 2025.

Microbial Diversity Course Begins

MBL Course Events The Microbial Diversity course runs from June 29 – August 12, 2025. Directors: Scott C. Dawson, University of California, Davis; and John Spear (Colorado School of Mines) Launched in 1971 by Holger Jannasch, the Microbial Diversity summer course at the Marine Biological Laboratory has trained generations of scientists from diverse backgrounds. The course is an intense immersion experience for 20 students that lasts 6.5 weeks. The goal of the course is to teach professors, postdocs and advanced graduate students how to discover, cultivate, and isolate diverse microorganisms catalyzing a breadth of chemical transformations, as well as how to perform molecular and computational analyses relevant to their study. Event Type: Courses. Sunday, July 6, 2025. Marine Biological Laboratory, 7 MBL St, Woods Hole, MA 02543. For more info visit www.mbl.edu.

The Edward Kravitz Endowed Lectureship in Neurobiology

MBL Course Events Title: "Imaging the Brain at High Spatiotemporal Resolution" Speaker: Na Ji, PhD, Luis Alvarez Memorial Chair in Experimental Physics, University of California, Berkeley Abstract: Neuroscience aims to understand the brain—an organ that distinguishes humans as a species, defines us as individuals, and provides the intellectual power with which we explore the universe. Composed of electrically excitable cells called neurons, the brain continuously receives and analyzes information, makes decisions, and controls actions. As the fundamental computational units of the brain, neurons communicate electrochemically via submicron structures called synapses. By forming synapses with one another, neurons create circuits and networks that can span centimeters and specialize in diverse mental functions. To understand the brain mechanistically, we need methods capable of monitoring the physiological processes of individual synapses as well as the activity of large populations of interconnected neurons. Drawing on… Event Type: Courses. Named Endowed Lecture. Evening Course Seminars: Monday Night Neuroscience Seminars. Monday, July 7, 2025, 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM. Speck Auditorium 10 MBL Street Woods Hole, MA.

The Jack and Rosalyn Rosenbluth Endowed Lecture in Physiology

Title: "How Cells Learn" Speaker: Wallace Marshall, PhD, Professor of Biochemistry & Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco Abstract: Single cells can show a startling range of complex behaviors that we might normally associate with complex nervous systems.   Cells can make decisions, hunt prey, avoid predators, and show simple forms of learning.  The giant ciliate Stentor lives in the pond where it attaches to pond plants and extends out into a cone shape while it feeds.   if another organism contacts the Stentor cell, it can rapidly contract to avoid predation, but this response consumes energy.  In order to avoid contracting in response to routine contact by algae or other non-threatening stimuli, Stentor cells can learn to ignore repeated stimuli of a given force level, a simple type of learning known as habituation.  But how does a single cell learn, when it doesn't have a brain?    We have used a combination of quantitative analysis of live cell behavior and computational modeling to… Event Type: Courses. Named Endowed Lecture. Tuesday, July 8, 2025, 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM. Cornelia Clapp Auditorium 7 MBL Street Woods Hole, MA 02543.

The Gertrude Forkosh Waxler Endowed Lecture

Title: "Cytoskeletal Evolution is a Key Driver of Eukaryotic Diversification" Speaker: Lillian Fritz-Laylin, PhD, Professor of Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Abstract: Eukaryotic cells physically manipulate their environments; swimming through liquids, crawling across surfaces, and actively ingesting objects large and small. These and other dynamic processes are controlled by polymer systems called the cytoskeleton. Although the protein polymers at the heart of cytoskeletal networks—actin and tubulin—are highly conserved, the networks they build vary wildly between cell types and species. This variability allows cells to adopt different forms and functions, giving rise to diversity at the organismal level. This concept raises two important and intertwined questions: How does the cytoskeleton evolve and diversify across phyla? And how does cytoskeletal evolution drive phenotypic diversification? To answer these questions, we focus on two lineages… Event Type: Courses. Named Endowed Lecture. Friday, July 11, 2025, 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM. Cornelia Clapp Auditorium 7 MBL Street Woods Hole, MA 02543.

The John Saunders Endowed Lectureship in Embryology

Title: "Laying Down the Body Plan: Lessons from the Embryo" Speaker: Olivier Pourquié PhD, Frank Burr Mallory Professor of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital & Professor of Genetics, Harvard Medical School Abstract: The periodic organization of the vertebrate body plan arises through the rhythmic segmentation of the presomitic mesoderm (PSM) into somites, which give rise to the axial skeleton, skeletal musculature, dermis, and other derivatives. Although somite formation has been studied for centuries, the cellular and molecular mechanisms governing its timing, patterning, and integration with axis elongation remain incompletely understood. We identified and molecularly characterized the “segmentation clock,” a cell‐autonomous oscillator driving rhythmic somite production. Transcriptomic profiling in mouse embryos revealed that Notch, Wnt, and FGF signaling components pulse in synchrony, with YAP activity modulating Notch‐dependent oscillations. A moving posterior‐to‐anterior gradient of FGF and Wnt… Event Type: Courses. Named Endowed Lecture. Friday, July 11, 2025, 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM. Speck Auditorium 10 MBL Street Woods Hole, MA.

Friday Evening Lecture Series: “It’s Elementary: Making Food More Nutritious” - Mary Lou Guerinot, Dartmouth College

Lectures are open to the public for in-person and virtual attendance. No registration required for in-person attendance. Doors open at 7:30 PM, lectures start at 8 PM. “It’s Elementary: Making Food More Nutritious” Mary Lou Guerinot, Ronald and Deborah Harris Professor in the Sciences, Department of Biology, Dartmouth College Glassman Lecture Registration link: https://mbl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_oVMHm6W3QiWEFXuN6mHo_g#/registrationLecture Abstract: Deficiencies of metal micronutrients commonly limit plant growth and reduce crop yields.  Because plants are the primary dietary source of micronutrients for most people, enhancing their nutritional content has important implications for human health.   Guerinot’s team addresses this challenge by combining high-throughput elemental analysis via inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and high-resolution imaging via synchrotron X-ray fluorescence (SXRF) to identify and characterize genes involved in metal uptake, distribution, and storage.… Virtual Information: https://mbl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_oVMHm6W3QiWEFXuN6mHo_g#/registration. Event Type: Friday Evening Lecture. Friday, July 11, 2025, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM. Cornelia Clapp Auditorium 7 MBL Street Woods Hole, MA 02543. For more info visit www.mbl.edu.

Strategies and Techniques for Analyzing Microbial Population Structures Course Begins

MBL Course Events The Strategies and Techniques for Analyzing Microbial Population Structures course runs from July 14 – July 24, 2025. Directors: C. Titus Brown, University of California, Davis and Amy Willis, University of Washington  Modern sequencing technologies enable comprehensive investigations of microbial communities, but generating large microbial datasets is often easier than analyzing them. STAMPS bridges the gap between data generation and knowledge generation, offering interdisciplinary training in bioinformatics and statistics to practitioners of molecular microbial ecology and genomics. Topics include: experimental design; processing raw data into genomic and functional units; annotation and reference databases; and statistical methods for analyzing microbiome data. Event Type: Courses. Monday, July 14, 2025. Marine Biological Laboratory, 7 MBL St, Woods Hole, MA 02543. For more info visit www.mbl.edu.

The Andrew Szent-Györgyi Lectureship in Physiology

Title: "Mechanical Information Processing in Adherent Cells" Speaker: Margaret Gardel, PhD, Horace B. Horton Professor of Physics, Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology and Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago Abstract: My lab studies how the movement and shape of living cells is controlled by living materials constructed by protein assemblies within the cell interior.  In this talk, I will describe our recent efforts to understand the design principles of the active, soft materials that drive morphogenesis of multicellular tissue.  In particular, I will discuss design principles by which the cellular cytoskeleton senses, generates, and adapts to mechanical forces and couples to biochemical and transcriptional pathways. Such mechanical information processing controls diverse processes including cell proliferation, barrier function and cell fate determination.  Andrew Szent-Györgyi’s (1924-2015) life has followed a remarkable trajectory. He was born in Hungary, where he studied medicine at the… Event Type: Courses. Named Endowed Lecture. Monday, July 14, 2025, 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM. Cornelia Clapp Auditorium 7 MBL Street Woods Hole, MA 02543.

The Abigail Salyers Endowed Lecture in Microbial Diversity

Title: "Wrangling Anoxia - Building Genetic Tools to Understand Microbial Life without Oxygen" Speaker: Leslie Day, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, Dartmouth College Abstract: Environments lacking oxygen are widespread across our world from the sulfidic sediments of the Sippewissett Salt Marsh to the crevices of our teeth and our guts. While we cannot persist in these anoxic environments, anaerobic microorganisms can flourish. These anaerobes play important roles in both biogeochemical cycles and human health. My work focuses on overcoming the barriers that arise when working with microorganisms that cannot survive in the presence of oxygen and developing tools to better understand these important organisms. Building genetic tools from the ground up in anaerobes is work Dr. Abigail Salyers tackled head-on, helping to launch the microbiome revolution. I have been inspired by her work in the development of mutagenesis techniques in Bacteroides in my own construction of genetic tools for the clinically relevant… Event Type: Courses. Named Endowed Lecture. Wednesday, July 16, 2025, 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM. Speck Auditorium 10 MBL Street Woods Hole, MA.

The Masakazu Konishi Endowed Lectureship in Neural Systems and Behavior

Title: "Taste by Touch in Octopus" Speaker: Nicholas Bellono, PhD, Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University Abstract: Sensory receptors are at the interface between an organism and its environment and thus represent key sites for biological innovation. Octopuses are a rich source for biological novelty: they exhibit complex cognition and behavior similar to vertebrates but via entirely distinct organization and evolutionary history. Indeed, among the most unique octopus traits is a complex distributed nervous system that enables autonomous, chemosensory arm behavior. Our lab recently discovered a novel family of chemotactile receptors (CRs) that mediate “taste by touch” arm exploration. CRs diverged from neurotransmitter receptors to form pentameric ionotropic receptors that detect poorly soluble molecules for contact-dependent chemosensation. Here, I will describe our curiosity-based exploration of octopus “taste by touch” as a striking example of convergent and divergent evolution… Event Type: Courses. Named Endowed Lecture. Wednesday, July 16, 2025, 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM. Speck Auditorium 10 MBL Street Woods Hole, MA.

The Tay Hayashi Lectureship in Cell Physiology

Title: "The Essential Roles of Polymers, Mechanics, and Cell Geometry in Bacterial Growth and Cell Division" Speaker: Ethan Garner, PhD, Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University Abstract: We study how bacteria create and maintain cell shape. Bacteria contain a surprising amount of intracellular organization. For components to be organized, cells require some shape that establishes a coordinate axis. We study the underlying mechanisms by which rod-shaped bacteria establish their shape, grow, and divide. This long-range organization is mediated by homologs of actin and tubulin, which guide the synthesis of the cell wall via associated synthetic enzymes. These filaments behave differently from each other and their eukaryotic relatives: The division tubulins treadmill around the division site, controlling the activity of the associated synthetic enzymes. Conversely, actin filaments that create and propagate the rod shape are quite stable and are pulled around the rod width by the activity… Event Type: Courses. Named Endowed Lecture. Thursday, July 17, 2025, 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM. Cornelia Clapp Auditorium 7 MBL Street Woods Hole, MA 02543.

The Paul Englund Endowed Lectureship in Biology of Parasitism

Title: "Learning Basic Immunology from Parasitic Disease" Speaker: Alan Sher, PhD, NIH Distinguished Investigator, Emeritus, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease Abstract: The study of parasitic disease, a major contributor to global human morbidity and mortality, remained a relatively neglected field until the late 1970’s when  spurred on by major breakthroughs in the control of viral and bacterial pathogens, funding agencies generated  new research initiatives to develop modern pharmacologic and immunologic interventions to reduce the worldwide impact of parasitic infection. In the US, the Marine Biologic Lab became a major academic hub for this new scientific endeavor with the founding of the Biology of Parasitism course in 1980 and the creation of dual annual conferences on the Molecular Biology and Immunology of parasites thereby playing a key role in the education and training of a new generation of parasitology researchers. This “blossoming” of the field has not only resulted in the… Event Type: Courses. Named Endowed Lecture. Friday, July 18, 2025, 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM. Speck Auditorium 10 MBL Street Woods Hole, MA.

Friday Evening Lecture Series: “Physics Meets Biology: How Vinaigrette Informed Our Understanding of Cellular Organization” - Geraldine Seydoux, HHMI, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Lectures are open to the public for in-person and virtual attendance. No registration required for in-person attendance. Doors open at 7:30 PM, lectures start at 8 PM.“Physics Meets Biology: How Vinaigrette Informed Our Understanding of Cellular Organization” Geraldine Seydoux, HHMI, Sheldon Professor of Medical Discovery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Registration link: https://mbl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_FlpBxE-1SHmm6aLqGb221Q#/registration, Lecture Abstract: Seydoux will discuss the emerging concept of “biomolecular condensates.”  It has long been appreciated that cells use membrane-bound organelles, like mitochondria and nuclei, to compartmentalize cellular functions. “Biomolecular condensates” are a newly appreciated type of cellular compartments that assemble by phase separation without the help of membranes. Seydoux will discuss how scientists working at the Marine Biological Laboratory first stumbled onto this concept, and how principles borrowed from physics and food science have… Virtual Information: https://mbl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_FlpBxE-1SHmm6aLqGb221Q#/registration. Event Type: Friday Evening Lecture. Friday, July 18, 2025, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM. Cornelia Clapp Auditorium 7 MBL Street Woods Hole, MA 02543. For more info visit www.mbl.edu.

The Arthur K. Parpart Endowed Lectureship

Title: "From Muscle to Memory: Long-Distance Calcium Signaling in Neurons" Speaker: Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz, PhD, Senior Group Leader and Head of 4D Cellular Physiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Janelia Research Campus Abstract: A major question in neuronal cell biology has been how postsynaptic neurotransmission is integrated over long distances in dendrites. Ca2+ is a pivotal second messenger in this process, with its cytoplasmic transients tightly controlled both spatially and temporally by buffers, pumps, exchangers, and other Ca2+ binding proteins. Prior studies have suggested that synaptic receptor-dependent Ca2+ transients are mostly confined within spine heads, with only minimal spreading along dendritic shafts. Here, I discuss an additional mechanism we discovered that supports long-range Ca2+ responses in dendrites involving a specialized organization of ER and PM. We found neuronal dendrites organize their ER and PM to form regularly arrayed junctions enriched in Ca2+ uptake and… Event Type: Courses. Named Endowed Lecture. Saturday, July 19, 2025, 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM. Cornelia Clapp Auditorium 7 MBL Street Woods Hole, MA 02543.

The Holger W. Jannasch Endowed Lecture in Microbial Diversity

Title: "Hard Microbiology: The Microbiome of Concrete" Speaker: Julia Maresca, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry Abstract: Concrete is a harsh environment -- dry, hard, salty, and very alkaline -- but it hosts a small community of extremely stress-tolerant microbes. The community is first established from the microbial communities in and on the components of concrete, but changes as the concrete ages and deteriorates, with inputs from natural and anthropogenic sources. We are using both cultivation and metagenomics to analyze these communities and exploring applications from structural health monitoring to synthetic communities for biosensing. Holger W. Jannasch, PhD, (1927-1998) was a marine microbiologist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, former MBL Trustee and member of the MBL Corporation, and a director and faculty member of the Microbial Ecology and Marine Ecology courses (the precursors to Microbial Diversity) at the MBL.… Event Type: Courses. Named Endowed Lecture. Saturday, July 19, 2025, 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM. Speck Auditorium 10 MBL Street Woods Hole, MA.

The John J. Cebra Endowed Lecture in Physiology

Title: "Design Principles of Living Membranes" Speaker: Ilya Levental, PhD, Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics, University of Virginia Abstract: The plasma membrane is the interface between a cell and its environment and is therefore responsible for a myriad of parallel processing tasks that must be tightly regulated to avoid aberrant signaling. To achieve this functional complexity, mammalian cells produce hundreds of lipid species that are actively turned over and trafficked to produce spatial and temporal gradients between cellular compartments. In addition to the plethora of regulatory roles performed by individual lipid molecules, membrane physiology is strictly dependent on the biophysical phenotypes – including membrane fluidity, rigidity, lipid packing, and lateral organization – arising from the collective behaviors of lipids. I will present the results of projects that address the lipidomic, biophysical, and functional aspects of mammalian plasma membranes. These projects… Event Type: Courses. Named Endowed Lecture. Monday, July 21, 2025, 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM. Cornelia Clapp Auditorium 7 MBL Street Woods Hole, MA 02543.

The Douglas Eveleigh Endowed Lecture

Title: "Bacterial Adaptation Across Environments" Speaker: Sean Crosson, PhD, Rudolph Hugh Professor of Microbiology, Genetics, and Immunology, Michigan State University Abstract: Our lab studies molecular mechanisms that enable bacterial cells to thrive in complex, dynamic environments. In this lecture, I will highlight recent work, including the identification of genes that support the survival of the gut bacterium Bacteroides fragilis under chemical stress conditions commonly encountered in the human gastrointestinal tract. Additionally, I will discuss bacterial interactions in the soil that enhance plant resilience during drought, providing a specific example of a microbe-microbe interaction that supports soybean drought tolerance. The Douglas Eveleigh Endowed Lecture recognizes the role played by Rutgers University Professor Emeritus Douglas Eveleigh (1933-2019), who championed the memorialization of Selman Waksman’s laboratory, papers and legacy at Rutgers. The lecturer is a person who inspires the… Event Type: Courses. Named Endowed Lecture. Tuesday, July 22, 2025, 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM. Speck Auditorium 10 MBL Street Woods Hole, MA.

Methods in Computational Neuroscience Course Begins

MBL Course Events Methods in Computational Neuroscience runs from July 23 – August 19, 2025. Directors: Stefano Fusi, Columbia University; and Roozbeh Kiani, New York University Animals interact with a complex world, encountering a variety of challenges: They must gather data about the environment, discover useful structures in these data, store and recall information about past events, plan and guide actions, learn the consequences of these actions, etc. These are, in part, computational problems that are solved by networks of neurons, from roughly 100 cells in a small worm to 100 billion in humans. Methods in Computational Neuroscience introduces students to the computational and mathematical techniques that are used to address how the brain solves these problems at levels of neural organization ranging from single membrane channels to operations of the entire brain. Event Type: Courses. Wednesday, July 23, 2025. Marine Biological Laboratory, 7 MBL St, Woods Hole, MA 02543. For more info visit www.mbl.edu.

The John G. Nicholls Endowed Lectureship in Neural Systems and Behavior

Title: Evolutionary Neuroscience of Social Behavior Speaker: Hans Hofmann, PhD, Professor of Integrative Biology, The University of Texas at Austin Abstract: Social behavior varies tremendously across species. Nevertheless, we now have a basic understanding of how social systems evolved. We also have gained fundamental insights into how the brain processes and stores socially salient information, how it generates context-appropriate behavior, and how behavior and its neural substrates develop during ontogeny. Ongoing research has begun to integrate these seemingly disparate approaches to unravel the causes and consequences of variation in brain and behavior in diverse species; and to reconstruct the evolution of the neuromolecular mechanisms that regulate and generate complex behavior. These studies demonstrate conserved roles of hormonal and neuromodulatory systems in the regulation of social behavior, even in cases of social systems that evolved convergently in distantly related taxa. Recent genome-scale… Event Type: Courses. Named Endowed Lecture. Wednesday, July 23, 2025, 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM. Speck Auditorium 10 MBL Street Woods Hole, MA.

Molecular and Cell Biology of Symbiosis Course Begins

MBL Course Events The Molecular and Cell Biology of Symbiosis course runs from July 24 - August 26, 2025. Directors: Phillip Cleves, Carnegie Institute of Science  The Molecular and Cell Biology of Symbiosis advanced research training course at the MBL is an immersive research-based course designed to teach basic concepts, open research questions, and facilitate state-of-the-art experimental approaches in symbiosis research. This 4-week experience will give students a deep understanding of the field of symbiosis research through a combination of hands-on research projects, lectures from experts in the field, and interactive workshops. Event Type: Courses. Thursday, July 24, 2025. Marine Biological Laboratory, 7 MBL St, Woods Hole, MA 02543. For more info visit www.mbl.edu.

Zebrafish Development and Genetics Course Begins

MBL Course Events The Zebrafish Development and Genetics course runs from July 24 – August 7, 2025. Directors: Andrea Pauli, IMP – Research Institute of Molecular Pathology; and Thomas Schilling, University of California, Irvine Over the past 25 years, the zebrafish has emerged as a powerful model system for the study of vertebrate development and disease. This intensive two-week course for advanced graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and independent investigators will focus on the development and genetics of zebrafish. The course will cover time proven as well as novel technologies geared towards their application in zebrafish. Mornings and afternoons will be devoted mainly to laboratory exercises and the evenings to lectures and discussion. Event Type: Courses. Thursday, July 24, 2025. Marine Biological Laboratory, 7 MBL St, Woods Hole, MA 02543. For more info visit www.mbl.edu.

Friday Evening Lecture Series: "Mechanisms of Adaptive Behavior: From Moments to Millennia" - Vanessa Ruta, HHMI, The Rockefeller University

Lectures are open to the public for in-person and virtual attendance. No registration required for in-person attendance. Doors open at 7:30 PM, lectures start at 8 PM."Mechanisms of Adaptive Behavior: From Moments to Millennia" Vanessa Ruta, Gabrielle H. Reem and Herbert J. Kayden Professor; Investigator, HHMI, The Rockefeller University Forbes Lecture Registration link: https://mbl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Nyr6g3hJSeCJ_siL_jMaJw#/registration, Lecture Abstract: Animals display fantastic diversity in their behaviors within and across different species. Ruta’s lab has been using the concise neural circuitry of Drosophila to elucidate how nervous systems are adapted over different timescales, through individual experience or evolutionary selection, to give rise to flexible variations in behavior. By applying an interdisciplinary perspective, from the structure of sensory receptors to the algorithms of complex behaviors, they have begun to shed light on how behaviors can be modified at the level of… Virtual Information: https://mbl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Nyr6g3hJSeCJ_siL_jMaJw#/registration. Event Type: Friday Evening Lecture. Friday, July 25, 2025, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM. Cornelia Clapp Auditorium 7 MBL Street Woods Hole, MA 02543. For more info visit www.mbl.edu.

Molecular Mycology: Current Approaches to Fungal Pathogenesis Course Begins

MBL Course Events The Molecular Mycology: Current Approaches to Fungal Pathogenesis course runs from July 31 – August 18, 2025. Directors: David Andes, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Robert Cramer, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth This course addresses the need for more research in the area of fungal diseases as our understanding of the basic pathophysiology of fungal disease lags far behind our understanding of bacterial, parasitic and viral diseases. Event Type: Courses. Thursday, July 31, 2025. Marine Biological Laboratory, 7 MBL St, Woods Hole, MA 02543. For more info visit www.mbl.edu.

Ruth Sager Lecture in Genetics

Titles: "Life-Long Growth and Development: In Vivo Cell Behaviors of the Zebrafish Visual System" | "Pediatric Sarcoma Modeling and Drug Screening in Zebrafish" Speakers: Kara Cerveny, PhD, Ronald A. Laing Professor, Biology; Chair, Neuroscience Program, Reed College | Martin Distel, PhD, Associate Professor, Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Huntsman Cancer Institute, Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah Abstracts: Uncovering the mechanisms that balance proliferation and differentiation is foundational for understanding how diseases of eye and brain development emerge. In zebrafish, the eye and brain grow continuously, generating new neurons and glia that integrate seamlessly into existing circuitry. This talk will highlight how the optical transparency and genetic tractability of zebrafish, combined with state-of-the-art in vivo imaging, enable real-time analyses the rate of cell proliferation and differentiation as the visual system grows and regenerates. Our… Event Type: Courses. Named Endowed Lecture. Thursday, July 31, 2025, 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM. Speck Auditorium 10 MBL Street Woods Hole, MA.

The Jack Edwards and Aaron Mitchell Endowed Lecture in Molecular Mycology

Title: "Host, Pathogen and Treatment: The Trinity of Medical Mycology" Speaker: Damian Krysan, MD, PhD, Samuel J. Fomon Chair in Pulmonology/Allergy/Infectious Diseases, Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Carver College of Medicine University of Iowa Abstract: The field of medical mycology encompasses three fundamental areas of inquiry: host, pathogen, and treatment. The medical mycology course at MBL has focused on this trinity of inquiry since its founding by Drs. Edwards and Mitchell. Their legacy has been to firmly establish this multidisciplinary approach as the predominant paradigm for the entire field of medical mycology; the hundreds students and faculty associated with the medical mycology course over its 25+ years have been the agents of this legacy. In this lecture, I will summarize how aspects of the work in my lab have been influenced by this legacy as representative of the effect that Drs. Edwards and Mitchell have had on this important area of infectious disease… Event Type: Courses. Named Endowed Lecture. Thursday, July 31, 2025, 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM. Lillie Building, Bay Reading Room 7 MBL Street Woods Hole, MA 02543.

Visual Neuroscience Course Begins

MBL Course Events The Visual Neuroscience course runs from August 1 – August 16, 2025. Directors: Richard Kramer, UC Berkeley; and Gregory Schwartz, Northwestern University Vision is our most precious and important sense, with more than 50% of the cerebral cortex involved in processing information from our eyes. Vision is also the most widely studied sensory modality, with thousands of laboratories, domestic and international, seeking to understand normal visual function and vision disorders. The goal of the Visual Neuroscience course is to solidify the learning of fundamental concepts about the neural processing of visual information from the retina to animal behavior while exposing trainees to multiple modern neuroscience techniques through hands-on experience. Event Type: Courses. Friday, August 1, 2025. Marine Biological Laboratory, 7 MBL St, Woods Hole, MA 02543. For more info visit www.mbl.edu.

Friday Evening Lecture Series: “No Ordinary Vampire Fish: Insights from Sea Lampreys on Neuroscience and Human Health” - Jennifer Morgan, MBL

Lectures are open to the public for in-person and virtual attendance. No registration required for in-person attendance. Doors open at 7:30 PM, lectures start at 8 PM.“No Ordinary Vampire Fish: Insights from Sea Lampreys on Neuroscience and Human Health” Jennifer Morgan, MBL Senior Scientist and Director of the Bell Center Registration link: https://mbl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_zNh_-vNkRdeyjouNywvWgw#/registration, Jennifer Morgan’s laboratory investigates the mechanisms of neuronal communication, particularly how spinal cord injury and neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s disrupt neurotransmission at the synapses. Using sea lampreys as a model organism, her team explores regenerative processes such as axon and synapse regrowth to restore function after injury. Her lab explores how condensate biology can explain the sufficient clustering of synaptic vesicles within the synapse, which is necessary for neurotransmission to occur, and the contributions of condensates to disease pathogenesis. Virtual Information: https://mbl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_zNh_-vNkRdeyjouNywvWgw#/registration. Event Type: Friday Evening Lecture. Friday, August 1, 2025, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM. Cornelia Clapp Auditorium 7 MBL Street Woods Hole, MA 02543. For more info visit www.mbl.edu.

Brains, Minds, and Machines Course Begins

MBL Course Events The Brains, Minds, and Machines course runs from August 3 – August 24, 2025. Directors: Boris Katz, MIT; and Gabriel Kreiman, Harvard Medical School The goal of this course is to help produce a community of leaders that is equally knowledgeable in neuroscience, cognitive science, and computer science and will lead the scientific understanding of intelligence and the development of true biologically inspired AI. Event Type: Courses. Sunday, August 3, 2025. Marine Biological Laboratory, 7 MBL St, Woods Hole, MA 02543. For more info visit www.mbl.edu.

The Deborah Hogan and Andrew Alspaugh Endowed Lecture

MBL Course Events Title: "Fungal Evolution in Human Hosts: The Complex Genomic and Phenotypic Landscape of Chronic Cryptococcosis" Speaker: Paul Magwene, PhD, Professor of Biology and Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Abstract: I will describe our recent studies of genomic and phenotypic evolution of the fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans during chronic infections of human patients.  We find that genome evolution during chronic cryptococcosis is characterized by an explosion of genomic structural variation, including aneuploidy, loss-and-gain of chromosomal arms, loss-of-heterozygosity, as well as smaller scale deletions and duplications. Radical genomic changes are accompanied by extensive phenotypic diversification in traits such as capsule size, melanization, and drug resistance.  Genotypically and phenotypically distinct sub-lineages arise and co-persist within the same  tissues, consistent with a model of diversifying selection and niche partitioning in the complex environment of… Event Type: Courses. Friday, August 8, 2025, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM. Bay Reading Room.

Friday Evening Lecture Series: “The Promise of Gene-Drives and Other Active Genetic Systems” - Ethan Bier, University of California San Diego

Lectures are open to the public for in-person and virtual attendance. No registration required for in-person attendance. Doors open at 7:30 PM, lectures start at 8 PM.“The Promise of Gene-Drives and Other Active Genetic Systems” Ethan Bier, Professor of Biology, University of California San Diego Porter Lecture Registration link: https://mbl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_6vlMUo0BSD6vVfyJUgIDqA#/registration, Lecture Abstract: This lecture will explore the application of CRISPR-based tools to gene drives and the development of other active genetic elements. Topics will include using CRISPR and gene drive principles in somatic cell genetics and genome engineering, as well as real-world  applications of active genetics—such as combating insect-borne diseases like malaria, reversing insecticide resistance, and removing antibiotic resistance from bacteria in both environmental and clinical contexts. The lecture will also address the ethical considerations surrounding CRISPR and other transformative biological… Virtual Information: https://mbl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_6vlMUo0BSD6vVfyJUgIDqA#/registration. Event Type: Friday Evening Lecture. Friday, August 8, 2025, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM. Cornelia Clapp Auditorium 7 MBL Street Woods Hole, MA 02543. For more info visit www.mbl.edu.

Woods Hole Science Stroll

Join us for a celebration of the world-class ocean science happening in Woods Hole! This family-friendly annual event features up-close views of ocean robots, along with science displays, animal touch tanks, and hands-on activities. Learn about Woods Hole’s six major science institutions, the U.S. Coast Guard, and local environment and education-focused non-profits. Fun for the whole family! Rain date is August 10th. Parking in Woods Hole is limited. We encourage people to ride their bikes to Woods Hole or take the WHOOSH Trolley.  More info: https://woodsholesciencestroll.org/. Event Type: Other. Saturday, August 9, 2025, 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM. Water Street Woods Hole, MA 02543. For more info visit woodsholesciencestroll.org.

Optical Microscopy and Imaging in the Biomedical Sciences Course Begins

MBL Course Events The Optical Microscopy and Imaging in the Biomedical Sciences course runs from August 12 – August 22, 2025. Directors: Michelle Itano, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and Wesley Legant, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill This course will enable the participants to obtain and interpret high quality microscope data, to understand and assess potential artifacts, to perform quantitative optical measurements, and to generate digital images for documentation and analysis that accurately present the data. Event Type: Courses. Tuesday, August 12, 2025. Marine Biological Laboratory, 7 MBL St, Woods Hole, MA 02543. For more info visit www.mbl.edu.

Friday Evening Lecture Series: “From Curiosity to Discovery: My Quest for Excellence in RNA Science” - Blanton Tolbert, University of Pennsylvania

Lectures are open to the public for in-person and virtual attendance. No registration required for in-person attendance. Doors open at 7:30 PM, lectures start at 8 PM.“From Curiosity to Discovery: My Quest for Excellence in RNA Science” Blanton Tolbert, Jacob Gershon-Cohen Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania Registraton link: https://mbl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_l7Z3mcTfQLOnQCC9xTC3KA#/registration, Blanton S. Tolbert is Vice President of Science Leadership and Culture, Howard Hughes Medical Institute; and Jacob Gershon-Cohen Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania. Tolbert leads HHMI’s Center for the Advancement of Science Leadership and Culture where he directs a portfolio of current and new programs at the undergraduate and graduate level, an initiative to better equip HHMI scientists to provide culturally aware mentorship, a curriculum to grow scientists’ skills to maintain inclusive environments, and activities to develop strategic… Virtual Information: https://mbl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_l7Z3mcTfQLOnQCC9xTC3KA#/registration. Event Type: Friday Evening Lecture. Friday, August 15, 2025, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM. Cornelia Clapp Auditorium 7 MBL Street Woods Hole, MA 02543. For more info visit www.mbl.edu.

AI@MBL: Machine Learning for Microscopy Image Analysis Course Begins

MBL Course Events The AI@MBL: Machine Learning for Microscopy Image Analysis course runs from August 22 – September 6, 2025. Directors: Jan Funke, HHMI Janelia Research Campus; and Shalin Mehta, Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco The goal of this course is to familiarize researchers in the life sciences with state-of-the-art deep learning techniques for microscopy image analysis and to introduce them to tools and frameworks that facilitate independent application of the learned material after the course. Event Type: Courses. Friday, August 22, 2025. Marine Biological Laboratory, 7 MBL St, Woods Hole, MA 02543. For more info visit www.mbl.edu.

Mobile Genetic Elements

This meeting brings together experimental and computational scientists seeking to narrow the gap between the fast-paced discovery of transposable elements in silico and the limited number of experimental models amenable to functional studies of structural, mechanistic, and regulatory properties of transposable elements and their impact on prokaryotic and eukaryotic hosts. Event Type: Conferences. Thursday, August 28, 2025 – Monday, September 1, 2025. Swope Center 5 North Street Woods Hole, MA 02543. For more info visit www.eventsquid.com.

Labor Day - MBL Closed

Event Type: Other. Monday, September 1, 2025.

Society for General Physiologists

The Society of General Physiologists is an inclusive, international scientific society whose goal is to advance the understanding of the fundamental physiological mechanisms and physical principles that govern the functioning of biological systems. This year's meeting is entitled, "Tracing the Path of Chloride: From Ion Channels and Transporters to Physiology and Therapeutics. Event Type: Conferences. Wednesday, September 3, 2025 – Sunday, September 7, 2025. Swope Center 5 North Street Woods Hole, MA 02543. For more info visit www.sgpweb.org.

Molecular Parasitology Meeting XXXVI

MPM brings scientists from across the world together each year to share, learn, and create new friendships and collaborations. Last year, over 50 countries were represented. The meeting will include scientific talks, poster sessions, and social and networking events. Presentations at MPM feature research about a wide range of parasites. The majority of research focuses on understanding molecular mechanisms of parasite biology and control and spans a wide range of topics and approaches, including biochemistry, cell biology, molecular biology, host-parasite interactions, vector-parasite interactions, population biology, ‘omics analyses, and development of drugs, vaccines, and other new tools. Event Type: Conferences. Sunday, September 14, 2025 – Thursday, September 18, 2025. Swope Center 5 North Street Woods Hole, MA 02543. For more info visit www.parasitesrule.com.