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Signature Course

Comparative and Experimental Approaches to Aging Biology Research

Location: MDI Biological Laboratory (travel information)
Contact Education Office
Star Point at sunset

Comparative and Experimental Approaches to Aging Biology Research is a 2-week intensive research training course using comparative models and approaches to explore biological aging. Models include C. elegans, Drosophila, mice, and African turquoise killifish (Nothobranchius furzeri).

The course emphasizes the advantages of each model system for addressing mechanisms relevant to the biology of human aging. Participants engage in hypothesis-driven research utilizing experimental methods including CRISPR, mRNA translation profiling, microinjection (worms and fish), quantitative fluorescence microscopy (QFM), and health/survival assays.

Participants get access and training in the use of the statistical programming language R and other software necessary for analysis of big data used in conjunction with modern experimentation [e.g., transcriptomics, translatomics, Quantitative Trait Locus (QTL), and Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS)].

Course programming includes expert guest lecturers with opportunities for professional development and networking within the aging research community. Students will also have the opportunity to present their own research and get critical feedback from experts in the field.

MDI Biological Laboratory is located on Mount Desert Island near Acadia National Park and the popular vacation destination of Bar Harbor, Maine.

Tuition

$4,000.00

Fellowship funding is available.

Includes:

All course materials, laboratory supplies, double occupancy housing and meals

Comparative Aging Application Guide

Partners

Glenn Foundation for Medical Research
inbre-logo
MDI Biological Laboratory COBRE: Comparative Biology of Tissue Repair, Regeneration, and Aging
Sutter Instrument
The Gerontological Society of America

Course Directors

Instructors

As a result of this course, participants will:

Course Goals
  • Understand current aging research paradigms
  • Design and execute aging-related studies and properly analyze data
  • Gain hands-on experience with models and state-of-the-art techniques used in aging research
  • Receive one-on-one interaction with experts and leaders in aging research
Experimental Design and Techniques
  • Power analysis to determine sample size
  • Selecting a strain background
  • Accounting for sex
  • Inbred vs. outbred genetic considerations
  • Experimental considerations under conditions involving
    • Drug interventions
    • Dietary restriction
    • Knockout and transgenic strains
    • Mated versus non-mated (fly)
    • Reproductive inhibition (worm)
  • Animal welfare considerations in longitudinal studies
Research Skills Training
  • Creation of transgenic animals using CRISPR/Cas9 technology
  • mRNA translation profiling
  • Animal handling, maintenance, and husbandry
  • Assays that involve scoring lifespan, healthspan, and stress tolerance
  • Quantitative fluorescence microscopy
Scientific Software and Data Analysis
  • Introduction to the R statistical programming language
  • Analysis of common aging data types
    • Lifespan and survival analysis
    • Mortality (Cox regression)
    • Age-related measures of health (including invertebrate models)
  • Large data, statistical analysis of transcriptome, translatome, and proteome data
  • Genetic mapping
    • Phenotype to genotype mapping using QTL and GWAS analysis
    • Traditional mapping populations (e.g. F1 hybrids, 4-way cross)
    • Diversity outbred and collaborative cross mice
Lectures and Literature
  • Role of individual genes, gene pathways, and cellular mechanisms in aging
  • Comparative aspects of aging across different model systems
  • Strength of combining models
  • Utility of choosing the right model for addressing specific questions

draft schedule, subject to change

June 19, 2016 Sunday

Noon – 4PM Student arrival, check-in (Dining Hall)

6-7 PM Dinner (Dining Hall)

7-9 PM Round table discussion with introductions and course overview (Davis Classroom)

June 20, 2016 Monday

Before 9AM Self-service breakfast (Dining Hall)

9AM – 10:30AM Course introduction: A Brief History of Aging Research & The Revolution Sparked by a Microscopic Roundworm (Davis Classroom), Aric Rogers

10:30AM – 10:45AM Break

10:45AM – Noon CRISPR in C. elegans (Davis Classroom, ending in Training Lab), Dustin Updike

Noon – 1PM Lunch (Dining Hall)

1PM – 3:45PM Microinjection of CRISPR constructs in C. elegans (Training Lab), Adair Oesterle from Sutter and Michael Bady from Eppendorf

4PM – 5PM Keeping Neurons Young–the Importance of Throwing Out the Trash (Maren Auditorium), Monica Driscoll

5PM – 5:45PM Break / Chat with Monica Driscoll

5:45PM – 7PM Dinner in private dining room with speakers (Dining Hall)

7PM – 9PM Microinjection of CRISPR constructs, continued (Training Lab), Adair Oesterle and Michael Bady

June 21, 2016 Tuesday

Before 8:30AM Self-service breakfast (Dining Hall)

8:30AM – 10AM Introduction to mouse genetics (Davis Classroom), Ron Korstanje

10AM – 10:30AM Break

10:30AM – Noon What studies in mice are telling us about human aging (Davis Classroom), George Sutphin

Noon – 1PM Lunch (Dining Hall)

1PM – 3:50PM Tools for computational biology: programming in R (Davis Classroom), Sue McClatchy and Narayanan Raghupathy

4PM – 5:45PM Free Time / CRISPR construct microinjection (optional), Adair Oesterle and Michael Bady

5:45PM – 7PM Dinner in private dining room with speakers (Dining Hall)

7PM – 8PM The Importance of Cellular Recycling in Aging and Disease (Maren Auditorium), Malene Hansen

8PM – 9PM Reception (Maren Auditorium)

June 22, 2016 Wednesday

Before 8:30AM Self-service breakfast (Dining Hall)

8:30AM – 10AM Dietary restriction in mice (Davis Classroom), James Nelson

10AM – 10:30AM Break

10:30AM – Noon Pharmacological Aging Intervention studies in Mice (Davis Classroom), Dave Harrison

Noon – 1PM Lunch (Dining Hall)

1PM – 3:50PM Workshop: Mouse aging study design (Davis Classroom), George Sutphin

4PM – 5PM Genetic Background in the Ability of DR to Extend Lifespan (Maren Auditorium), James Nelson

5PM – 5:45PM Break / Chat with Jim Nelson

5:45PM – 7:00PM dinner in private dining room with speakers (Dining Hall)

June 23, 2016 Thursday

Before 8:30AM Self-service breakfast (Dining Hall)

8:30AM – 10AM Neurological disease and aging (Davis Classroom), Gareth Howell

10AM – 10:30AM Break

10:30AM – Noon Renal and cardiovascular disease and aging (Davis Classroom), Ron Korstanje

Noon – 1PM Lunch in Dining Hall

1PM – 3:50PM Workshop: Survival Analysis (Davis Classroom), George Sutphin

4PM – 5PM Endocrinology, aging, and long-lived dwarf mice (Maren Auditorium), Holly Brown-Borg

5PM – 5:45PM Break / Chat with Holly Brown-Borg

5:45PM – 7PM Dinner in private dining room with speakers (Dining Hall)

June 24, 2016 Friday

Before 8:30AM Self-service breakfast (Dining Hall)

8:30AM – 10AM Immunology and aging (Davis Classroom), Daniel Goldstein

10AM – 10:30AM Break

10:30AM – Noon Bone and aging (Davis Classroom), Cheryl Ackert-Bicknell

Noon – 1PM Lunch (Dining Hall)

1PM – 3:50PM Workshop: Genetic mapping and aging (Davis Classroom), Dan Gatti

4PM – 5PM Sirtuins, NAD, and Aging (Maren Auditorium), Leonard Guarente

5PM – 5:45PM Break / Chat with Lenny Guarente

5:45PM – 7PM Dinner in private dining room with speakers (Dining Hall)

June 25, 2016 Saturday

Before 9AM – Self-service breakfast (Dining Hall)

9AM – 10AM Polysome profiling and mRNA translation (Davis Classroom), Aric Rogers

10AM – 10:15AM Break

10:15AM – Noon Polysome profiling in C. elegans (Training Lab), Aric Rogers and Jarod Rollins

Noon – 1PM Lunch (Dining Hall)

1PM – 4:30PM Outing to Acadia National Park, Ron Korstanje

4:30PM – 5:45PM Collect polysome samples into Trizol

6PM – 7PM Dinner (Dining Hall)

After 7PM Free time

June 26, 2016 Sunday

Before 10AM Free morning / self-service breakfast (Dining Hall)

10AM – 11AM Healthspan and gerospan in longevity models (Davis Classroom), Jarod Rollins

11 – Noon Assessing health and stress tolerance in C. elegans (Training Lab), Aric Rogers and Jarod Rollins

Noon – 1PM Lunch (Dining Hall)

1PM – 4PM Survival and motility data collection and beginning of analysis (Training Lab), Aric Rogers and Jarod Rollins

4PM – 4:30PM Break

4:30PM – 6PM Survival and motility data collection and beginning of analysis (Training Lab), Aric Rogers and Jarod Rollins

6PM – 7PM Dinner (Dining Hall)

7PM – 9PM C. elegans health/survival data analysis (Training Lab) Jarod Rollins

June 27, 2016 Monday

Before 9AM – Self-service breakfast (Dining Hall)

9AM – 10AM Introduction to the turquoise killifish model of aging (Davis Classroom), Itamar Harel

10AM – 10:15AM Break

10:15AM – Noon Age-related regenerative capacity in turquoise killifish (Training Lab), Itamar Harel

Noon – 1PM Lunch (Dining Hall)

1PM – 3:50PM CRISPR technology in the turquoise killifish (Training Lab), Itamar Harel

4PM – 5PM The Role of Nutrition and Energy Metabolism in Health and Disease (Maren Auditorium), Pankaj Kapahi

5PM – 5:45PM Break / Chat with Pankaj Kapahi

5:45PM – 7:00PM Dinner in private dining room with speakers (Dining Hall)

7PM – 9PM Turquoise killifish (Training Lab), Itamar Harel

June 28, 2016 Tuesday

Before 9AM – Self-service breakfast (Dining Hall)

9AM – 10AM C. elegans and cell nonautonomous mechanisms of aging and longevity (Davis Classroom), Kris Burkewitz

10AM – 10:15AM Break

10:15AM – Noon C. elegans anatomy and in vivo quantitative fluorescence microscopy (Training Lab), Kris Burkewitz

Noon – 1PM Lunch (Dining Hall)

1PM – 3:50PM Lab: C. elegans anatomy and in vivo quantitative fluorescence microscopy, part 2 (Training Lab), Kris Burkewitz

4PM – 5PM New Mouse Models for Aging Research (Maren Auditorium), Gary Churchill

5PM – 5:45PM Break / Chat with Gary Churchill

5:45PM – 7PM Dinner in private dining room with speakers (Dining Hall)

7PM – 9PM C. elegans genetic mini-screen via dsRNA feeding (Training Lab), Kris Burkewitz

June 29, 2016 Wednesday

Before 9AM – Self-service breakfast (Dining Hall)

9AM – 10AM Using Drosophila to explore the systemic coordination of age-related metabolic dysfunction (Davis Classroom), Jason Karpac

10AM-10:15AM Break

10:15 – Noon Age-related metabolic dysfunction Drosophila lab (Training Lab), Jason Karpac

Noon – 1PM Lunch (Dining Hall)

1PM – 3:50PM Drosophila lab, continued (Training Lab), Jason Karpac

4PM – 5PM The Ups and Downs of Energetics and Aging- Neural Regulators and Downstream Effectors (Maren Auditorium), Will Mair

5PM – 5:45PM Break / Chat with Will Mair

5:45PM – 7PM Dinner in private dining room with speakers (Dining Hall)

7PM – 9PM Drosophila experiments (Training Lab)

June 30, 2016 Thursday

Before 9AM – Self-service breakfast (Dining Hall)

9AM – 10AM The turquoise killifish model of aging Part 2 (Davis Classroom), Itamar Harel

10AM-10:15AM Break

10:15AM – Noon Killifish experiments, continued (Training Lab), Itamar Harel

Noon – 1PM Lunch (Dining Hall)

1PM – 3:30PM qPCR and fluorescence of CRISPR-injected embryos (Training Lab), Itamar Harel

3:30PM – 3:45PM Break

3:45PM – 5:45PM Organ dissection and regenerative capacity in young versus old killifish (Training Lab), Itamar Harel

5:45PM – 7PM Dinner in private dining room with speakers (Dining Hall)

7PM – 8PM Living to be 150: How Soon? How Desirable? (Maren Auditorium), Steven Austad

8PM – 9PM Reception

July 1, 2016 Friday

Before 9AM – Self-service breakfast (Dining Hall)

9AM – 10AM C. elegans and cell nonautonomous mechanisms of aging and longevity Part 2 (Davis Classroom), Kris Burkewitz

10AM – 10:15AM Break

10:15AM – Noon Cell nonautonomous mechanisms of aging in C. elegans, continued (Training Lab), Kris Burkewitz

Noon – 1PM Lunch (Dining Hall)

1PM – 3:30PM Screen transcriptional and translation fluorescence reporters (Training Lab), Kris Burkewitz

3:30PM – 3:45PM Break

3:45PM – 5:45PM Identify novel mechanisms of inter-tissue communication and regulation (Training Lab), Kris Burkewitz

5:45PM – 7PM Dinner in private dining room with speakers (Dining Hall)

7PM – 8PM Quality Control in Our Cells: Hero or Culprit in Aging and Disease (Maren Auditorium), Richard Morimoto

8PM – 9PM Reception (Maren Auditorium)

July 2, 2016 Saturday

Before 9AM – Self-service breakfast (Dining Hall)

9AM – 10AM The importance of polyploidy for wound-healing using the Drosophila model (Davis Classroom), Vicki Losick

10AM – 10:15AM Break

10:15AM – Noon Tissue-specific versus systemic aging lab (Training Lab), Jason Karpac

Noon – 1PM Lunch (Dining Hall)

1PM – 3:30PM Analysis of results from Wednesday and today (Training Lab), Jason Karpac

3:30PM – 3:45PM Break

3:45PM – 5:45PM Final presentations and course evaluation (Davis Classroom), Aric Rogers

6PM – Lobster Bake

July 3, 2016 Sunday

Self-serve breakfast

Students Depart housing by 9am

 

On-Campus Housing

Dormitory style cottage accommodations are assigned double occupancy; single rooms if available may be purchased for an additional fee. Accommodations have shared bathrooms, equipped kitchens, common rooms, high speed wireless internet, and parking.

Our on-campus housing is within walking distance of all campus facilities (Note: campus grounds include wooded terrain).

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