Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, United States
PROGRAM: Biological Sciences

With the support of the Graduate Student Travel Award, I attended the 2019 American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) in Washington, D.C. With over 6,000 attendees, ASCB is the largest conference for cell biologists across the globe. ASCB is a central hub for showcasing the latest research trends in cell biology-related fields, with this year’s emphasis on imaging techniques and disease diagnostics. My research aims to dissect the molecular interactions between a pathogenic microbe and its host. I use an integrated approach to understand host-pathogen dynamics, relying heavily on techniques from cell biology, biochemistry and microbiology. As a Ph.D. student studying a highly interdisciplinary field, it was extremely useful for me to attend a conference in which from all of these research fields would be represented.

I found ASCB to be a particularly beneficial conference because I had the opportunity to interact with leading experts in my field as well as offer my research expertise to up and coming researchers. This was the first conference I had been to where I had the opportunity to serve as a poster judge for a national undergraduate poster competition, which I found to be extremely rewarding. I learned about the current research projects being conducted by undergraduate students from all over the country, and offered my feedback on how to improve their research as well as their scientific communication skills. I also presented a poster on my current project, and received useful feedback on how to tackle some roadblocks that I was currently facing with my experiments.

I am primarily interested in how bacterial proteins can target and manipulate membrane trafficking pathways in host cells so I attended talks focused on organelle dynamics and lipid-membrane trafficking. It was an invaluable experience to hear about the cutting-edge techniques being used in my field, and thinking about how I can apply them to my own project. I was particularly impressed with talks showcasing microscopy-based methods for identifying intracellular protein-protein interactions. Being surrounded by such innovative projects fueled my motivation to return to UD and get back to work.

I attended this conference with my advisor and 4 of my lab mates which made this experience even more memorable. Being able to discuss talks and posters on the spot with my lab members made the information I learned more enriching and useful. Outside of the conference, we explored historic Washington, D.C and enjoyed our time together at nearby bars and restaurants. ASCB was an instrumental experience for my graduate career and I greatly appreciate the Graduate College for funding this opportunity.