2024 Summer Journal Clubs

Cancer can develop from normal cell signaling gone awry. Therapies in cancer can target these dysregulated cells’ signaling pathways and cause metastasis, resistance to cell death, and replicative immortality. We will discuss foundational cancer cell signaling papers to better understand how research of signaling pathways contributes to the development of treatments. We will instill and employ critical reading skills for scientific articles.

Co-Leaders: Holly Morrison, Postdoc, NCI; Sarah Krantz, Postdoc, NCI; Briana Branch, Grad Student, NCI

Dates: June 17th, June 24th, July 8th, July 15th, July 22nd (Mondays)

Times: 3:00-4:00 pm

Format: In-Person

Location: Bethesda, MD - main campus

The "Chromatin and Epigenetics" Journal Club will cover the latest discoveries shaping our understanding of chromatin structure, gene regulation and their connection to development and disease.

• Join a supportive and engaging environment
• Participants in various stages in their career will have the opportunity to discuss recent publications from top-tier journals.
• Engage in stimulating scientific conversations and develop your ability to critically evaluate scientific literature.
• Enhance your scientific reasoning and cultivate a deeper understanding of gene regulation and epigenetic inheritance.
• Connect with like-minded peers and build valuable relationships with fellow students, postdocs, and researchers with common interests.

This Journal Club is perfect for anyone interested in:

• Chromatin structure and function
• Histone modifications and their role in gene regulation
• Mechanisms of epigenetic inheritance
• New frontiers in epigenetics and therapeutic targeting

Come discuss cutting-edge research, share your insights, and stay at the forefront of this dynamic field!

Co-Leaders: Patroula Nathanailidou, Postdoc, NCI; Bharat Bhatt, Postdoc, NCI;

Dates: June 13th, June 20th, June 27th, July 11th, July 18th (Thursdays)

Times: 12:30-1:30 pm

Format: In-Person

Location: Bethesda, MD - main campus

Retroviral infections can lead to the permanent integration of the viral genome within the host genome, with the potential to be passed on to the host offspring as “endogenous” retroviral elements. This journal club series will take us on a journey through the evolution of major genetic innovations triggered by endogenous retroviral sequences (and relatives!) that shaped how we are today. We will discuss how the evolution of our embryonic development inside our mother, our brain function and even our back development without a tail are all the result of very ancient retroviral and retroviral-like sequences.

Co-Leaders: Melania Bruno, Postdoc Visiting Fellow, NICHD; Anna Dorothea Senft, Postdoc Visiting Fellow, NICHD

Dates: June 25th, July 2nd, July 9th, July 16th, July 23rd (Tuesdays)

Times: 4:00-5:30 pm

Format: In-Person

Location: Bethesda, MD - main campus

Embarking on a scientific journey through the genetic maze that shapes the immune system, this journal club investigates the intricate genetic factors underlying inflammatory diseases. It concentrates on the latest research breakthroughs that connect the dots between our genetic makeup and the intricacies of molecular pathways. The discussions aim to shed light on how these discoveries can lead to targeted therapeutic strategies, potentially revolutionizing the management and treatment of inflammatory conditions. Participants will engage with the material through critical analysis and collaborative discourse, fostering a deeper understanding of the molecular and genetic mechanisms at play.

Co-Leaders: Sarah Blackstone, Grad Student, NHGRI; Brynja Matthiasardottir, Grad Student, NHGRI

Dates: June 20th, June 27th, July 11th, July 18th, July 25th (Thursdays)

Times: 11:00-12:00 pm

Format: In-Person

Location: Bethesda, MD - main campus

In this journal club, we will read and discuss research articles that cover a variety of topics within neuroscience, from cellular and molecular research to circuit neuroscience, and vary in terms of quality and sensationalism. By the end of the summer, students can expect to be proficient in reading and evaluating research articles in neuroscience and will have developed subject area familiarity. We will meet Wednesdays at noon and encourage participants to bring their lunches. Please note we will take a break from journal club on June 19th.

Co-Leaders: Erin Fingleton, Grad Student, NINDS; Kathryn McDaniel, Grad Student, NINDS; Lex Lehr, Grad Student, NINDS;

Dates: June 12th, June 26th, July 3rd, July 10th, July 17th, July 24th (Wednesdays)

Times: 12:00-1:00 pm

Format: In-Person

Location: Bethesda, MD - main campus

Interest in genomics research has exploded over the last 20 years, making genomic analysis a central component to many biomedical science projects. A defining feature of the discipline is the size and scale of datasets, as the haploid length of the human genome itself is over three billion base pairs. As the amount of genomic data continues to increase and experimental approaches diversify, genomics will face a unique set of challenges regarding analysis of data, communication of findings, and ensuring the reproducibility of results. Our journal club is therefore focused on the common pitfalls in genomics journal articles, how to spot them, and how to critically evaluate the literature.

The journal club will range from five to six sessions, depending on the number of participants.

The first session will go over the essentials on how to critically read a scientific manuscript and sessions thereafter will discuss two manuscripts each. Weeks two to four will each be coordinated by one of the three co-leaders. Participants will be provided material to read/review the week prior. The session itself will involve presentations from the journal club leader, followed by a semi-structured group discussion of the main points of each article. In the final two weeks, interns will be divided into groups and each group will present a journal article as a slideshow and then lead a group discussion. Articles can either be selected by interns or assigned by co-leaders based on intern topic interest.

Co-Leaders: Reuben Buckley, Postdoc Visiting Fellow, NHGRI; Gabby Spatola, Grad Student, NHGRI; Tatiana Feuerborn, Postdoc, NHGRI

Dates: June 13th, June 20th, June 27th, July 11th, July 18th, July 25th (Thursdays)

Times: 9:00-10:00 am

Format: In-Person

Location: Bethesda, MD - main campus

The human brain houses the cognitive and perceptual functions that we rely on in our daily lives. For millennia, the study of the brain was limited to dissection, theory, and speculation. The advent of neuroimaging enabled scientists and clinicians to non-invasively study brain structure and function. One of the most exciting questions in modern neuroscience is what is the neural basis of consciousness – the subjective experience of the world and self? Network science offers cutting edge approaches to study the structure and function of the brain. In this journal club, we will explore how network-based analyses and perspectives help to reveal the underlying neural mechanisms of consciousness.

Co-Leaders: Sharif Kronemer, Postdoc, NIMH; Josh Faskowitz, Postdoc, NIMH

Dates: July 11th, July 16th, July 18th, July 23rd, July 25th (Tuesdays and Thursdays)

Times: 3:00-4:00 pm

Format: In-Person

Location: Bethesda, MD - main campus

While the TV series and video game may be fictional, emerging fungal pathogens are a real problem and pose a threat to human health and global food security. Join us as we explore fungal threats on the horizon. We’ll learn about Candida auris, the rise of anti-fungal resistance, and the interplay between plant and animal fungal pathogens.

If there is enough interest from those not on the Bethesda campus, we will move the meetings to be virtual.

Co-Leaders: Ashira Lubkin, Postdoc, NIGMS; Jessie MacAlpine, Postdoc, NIAID; Brendan Snarr, Postdoc, NIAID;

Dates: June 20th, June 27th, July 11th, July 18th, July 25th (Thursdays)

Times: 1:00-2:00 pm

Format: In-Person

Location: Bethesda, MD - main campus

What can AI do for our physical, mental, and social well-being? In this 4-session journal club, we will discuss past, present and future of AI/ML in the field of medicine. We will talk about how AI can empower research in Alzheimer’s disease/cancers and the use of wearable digital health technologies to diagnose, monitor and treat “invisible” illnesses.

Co-Leaders: Di Huang, Staff Scientist, NLM; Shan Xuan (Shan) Lim, Visiting Fellow, NICHD

Dates: June 18th, June 25th, July 2nd, July 9th (Tuesdays)

Times: 12:00-1:00 pm

Format: Virtual

A sumo wrestler and a bodybuilder can have the same weight, the same height, and the same body mass index (BMI). By these numbers, they may look identical, but in reality, these numbers don’t tell the full story. The important difference could be their body composition, which is a measurement of their lean and fat tissues and bone density. Body size and body composition have been on the center stage in many clinical applications because of how closely it correlates with energy metabolism. These measurements are critical to understanding nutritional needs and life-saving drug dosage calculations in various patient populations, including chemotherapy and cardiac index. We want to give you a chance to explore what you’re made of and how your body uses energy. You will learn about the devices and techniques applied to examine different parameters of body composition and how they are applied in a clinical research setting.

Co-Leaders: Samuel LaMunion, Postdoc, NIDDK; Asuka Ishihara, Research Fellow, NIDDK; Gabriel Sanchez, Postbac, NIDDK; Kyndall Davis, Postbac, NIDDK

Dates: June 18th, June 25th, July 2nd, July 9th, July 16th, July 23rd (Tuesdays)

Times: 11:00-12:00 pm

Format: Virtual

This study group will be highly interdisciplinary and focus on the interface of chemistry and biology. Students will learn the nuances of conducting research towards synergizing the fields of biology and chemistry. Papers will focus on the application of chemical reactions and materials to augment and study biological processes. Special attention will be placed on material and nanomaterial applications towards biomedical research.

Co-Leaders: Kanda Borgognoni, Postdoc, NIEHS; Zoe Wright, Postdoc, NIEHS;

Dates: June 12th, June 26th, July 3rd, July 10th, July 17th, July 24th (Wednesdays)

Times: 3:00-4:00 pm, except July 3rd: 12:00-1:00 pm

Format: Virtual

In this journal club, we will explore:

1. The mechanism of action of opioid receptors (MOR, DOR, KOR, NOP).
2. investigation of various opioid ligands and their pharmacological effects.
3. Small molecule treatment options for Substances Use Disorder (SUD)
4. Vaccine for SUD
5. G protein-coupled receptor targets

Co-Leaders: Zahra Hasanpour Asheghabadi, Postdoc Visiting Fellow, NIDA; Delmis Hernandez, Postdoc, NIDA

Dates: June 26th, July 3rd, July 10th, July 17th, July 24th (Wednesdays)

Times: 12:00-1:00 pm

Format: Virtual

Join us for an exhilarating journal club that delves into the intricate and dynamic interactions between viruses and their host organisms! Viruses are masters of manipulation, exploiting host cellular machinery for their own benefit. In this journal club, we will explore the latest research articles that shed light on the fascinating molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying virus-host interactions.

Co-Leaders: Amir Ghorbani, Postdoc, NIAID; Aizan Embong, Postdoc Visiting Fellow, NIAID; Jaroslav Holly, Research Fellow, NIAID;

Dates: June 13th, June 20th, June 27th, July 11th, July 18th (Thursdays)

Times: 1:00-2:30 pm

Format: Virtual

This Journal club will introduce the technique of CryoEM, which is utilized to deduce structures of macromolecules. CryoEM has revolutionized structural biology by allowing researchers to visualize biological macromolecules and complexes at near-atomic resolution. In this journal club, we explore what this technique is all about, recent advancements, methodologies, and breakthroughs in the field of CryoEM. The journal clubs aim to familiarize the participants with the technique and equip them with the knowledge to be able to understand the research in this area and at some point, utilize it.

Co-Leaders: Ishan Rathore, Postdoc Visiting Fellow, NCI; Vandana Mishra, Postdoc Visiting Fellow, NIDDK; Nidhi Kundu, Research Fellow, NIDDK;

Dates: June 13th, June 20th, June 27th, July 1st, July 11th, July 18th (Thursdays)

Times: 2:00-3:00 pm

Format: Virtual

Statistics is arguably the Achilles heel for most biologists and physicians in research. Nowhere is that more apparent than in peer reviewed journal articles, where an estimated 65 - 85% of all recently published research articles contain misrepresented or outright wrong statistics. Poor statistics is often blamed to be a main reason for the lack of reproducibility of published data. Thus, it has never been more critical than today to be able to read articles critically with an open eye also on the presentation of statistics. This workshop will discuss the state of statistics in recent publications and will teach some fundamentals to help your critical assessment of published statistics in science.

Co-Leaders: Johannes Doehl, Postdoc Visiting Fellow, NIAID; Serena Doh, Postbac, NIAID

Dates: June 12th, June 18th, June 25th, July 2nd, July 9th, July 16th (Tuesdays)

Times: 1:00-2:30 pm

Format: Virtual

Transformer is the state-of-the-art deep neural architecture gaining significant popularity in artificial intelligence, including natural language processing (NLP) and computer vision tasks. It was introduced in 2017 in the research paper “Attention is All You Need” by Ashish Vaswani et al. from Google. A mechanism called “self-attention” was introduced to allow the network to weigh the importance of different data points in a sequence of input data. This mechanism makes the model capable of capturing long-range dependencies and relationships between data points more effectively than conventional deep neural networks such as recurrent neural networks (RNNs) and convolutional neural networks (CNNs). The transformer architecture has succeeded in multiple tasks in NLP and computer vision, such as machine translation and text summarization, image classification and segmentation, and generative AI.

This journal club will first introduce the basic concepts of deep neural networks, transformers, and attention mechanisms by highlighting and discussing the research papers. In addition, we will provide the Python implementations of transformers for NLP and computer vision processing. The participants are expected to have basic knowledge of Python. They will be guided to explore the fun and skills of implementing various transformer models with Google Colab, the free Cloud computing platform by Google.

Co-Leaders: Zhaohui Liang, Research Fellow, NLM; Qingqing Zhu, Postdoc Visiting Fellow, NLM; Amr Elsawy, Postdoc Visiting Fellow, NLM; Sarvesh Soni, Research Fellow, NLM

Dates: June 13th, June 20th, June 27th, July 11th, July 18th, July 25th (Thursdays)

Times: 1:00-2:00 pm

Format: Virtual

Join us for an insightful discussion on the groundbreaking applications of large language models (LLMs) in the field of medical imaging. LLMs, such as OpenAI's GPT-3, have revolutionized various aspects of healthcare, including medical image analysis. In this journal club, we will explore how LLMs are being used to enhance image interpretation, automate medical report generation, and improve diagnostic accuracy.

During the session, we will delve into recent research papers that showcase the potential of LLMs in transforming the way medical images are analyzed and interpreted. We will discuss the advantages and challenges of using LLMs in medical imaging, as well as the ethical considerations surrounding their deployment in healthcare settings.

Whether you are a clinician, researcher, or student interested in the intersection of artificial intelligence and healthcare, this journal club offers a unique opportunity to explore the cutting-edge applications of LLMs in the medical imaging domain. Join us to learn, discuss, and contribute to the future of medical imaging with LLMs.

Co-Leaders: Kutsev Ozyoruk, Postdoc Visiting Fellow, NCI; Fahmida Haque, Postdoc Visiting Fellow, NCI

Dates: June 14th, June 21st, June 28th, July 12th, July 19th, July 26th (Fridays)

Times: 3:00-4:00 pm

Format: Virtual

Our journal club will explore fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce health disparities through clinical research and community based participatory research (CBPR).

Co-Leaders: Elisa Son, Postdoc, CC; Siobhan Lawler, Postdoc, CC; Choa Sung, Postdoc Visiting Fellow, CC

Dates: June 21st, June 28th, July 3rd, July 12th (Fridays)

Times: 10:00-11:00 am, except July 3rd: 11:00-12:00 pm

Format: Virtual

This journal club will discuss and explore different approaches to study memory and behavior, focusing on the methods and techniques used by neuroscientists.

Co-Leaders: Javier Rubio, Staff Scientist, NIDA; Emem Ukpong, Postbac, NIDA;

Dates: June 17th, June 24th, July 1st, July 8th, July 15th, July 22nd (Mondays)

Times: 12:30-1:30 pm

Format: Hybrid

Location: Baltimore, MD - NIDA IRP campus

After the rise of digital computers and social networks, we are approaching the advent of generative AI that may change the way how the whole scientific community pursues its mission, again.

This Journal Club aims to give a space for young students to reflect and debate about the pros and cons of the applications of this new technology in the Scientific Field. Also, we will focus on the risks for the Ethics and trust in biomedical and public health research.

Co-Leaders: Dawid Maciorowski, Grad Student, NIAID; Giacomo Sidoti Migliore, Postdoc Visiting Fellow, NIAID;

Dates: June 12th, June 20th, June 26th, July 1st, July 10th, July 17th (Wednesdays)

Times: 4:00-5:00 pm

Format: Hybrid

Location: Bethesda, MD - main campus

Basic science and clinical insights on the gut-brain immune axis. The hour and a half journal club will involve learning how to read scientific papers, understanding the gut-brain immune axis from a basic science (mouse and cell work) as well as a clinical perspective. Those interested in pursuing a PhD, MD, or MD/PhD degrees are encouraged to attend if the topic is appealing to you. We hope to approach topics from all angles as Mariam is a basic research scientist and Mary is a physician scientist.

Co-Leaders: Mariam Melkumyan, Postdoc, NIAAA; Mary Ajamian, Postdoc, NIAID;

Dates: June 17th, June 24th, July 1st, July 15th, July 22nd (Mondays)

Times: 2:30-4:00 pm

Format: Hybrid

Location: Bethesda, MD - main campus