The 11th Atlantic Canadian Developmental Biology symposium was held at Mount Saint Vincent University on June 19th, 2024, an a beautiful warm summer’s day. The symposium showcased a diversity of short talks from trainees from the undergraduate to postdoctoral level from labs at the University of New Brunswick, St. Mary’s University, Mount Saint Vincent University, and Dalhousie University. Topics ranged from epidermal patterning and matrix remodelling, swim bladder inflation, neural development and disease, bone regulation in simulated low gravity, peripheral nerve development, muscle and tendon biology using a combination of studies in cows, zebrafish, mice, chickens and flies. An exciting keynote lecture was delivered by Dr. Szabo-Rogers from the University of Saskatchewan, on the modelling of human congenital craniofacial disorders using mouse genetics, and the molecular mechanisms regulating cell signalling and bone growth. The symposium is an essential activity for students and postdocs in the Canadian Atlantic universities to exchange ideas and approaches in the study of how cellular processes help shape tissues during normal development and can go awry and lead to diseases. It is an important activity to stimulate thinking about interesting questions in cell and developmental biology, and how we can expand and support research excellence in our trainees. Attendees then discussed plans for next year’s symposium. We thank the American Association of Anatomy and Developmental Dynamics for sponsorship as well as Dalhousie University and Mount Saint Vincent University.
The Brain Repair Centre of Halifax featured our symposium here: https://www.brainrepair.ca/news/2024-annual-developmental-biology-symposium
