Virtual SMA Research Conference for Early Career Researchers

We warmly invite you and your labs to our virtual SMA research conference hosted by and for early-career researchers (ECRs). While we invite any and all interested parties to attend, we envision this as an excellent opportunity to hear from and strengthen links between early-career student and postdoctoral researchers, particularly at this challenging time where opportunities to speak and connect may be fewer. 

Conference Details

Meeting dates: 10 and 11 September 2020

Each session will feature a combination of 5 and 15 minute talks from early career researchers, with ample time for questions and answers. These will be followed by a keynote speaker specialising in the session theme.  The sessions will be as follows:

• Session 1- Fundamentals of SMA, Keynote speaker: Ewout Groen (University Medical Centre Utrecht)
• Session 2- Systemic Pathologies in SMA, Keynote speaker: Mèlissa Bowerman (Keele University)
• Session 3- Translational Research in SMA, Keynote speaker: TBD
• Session 4- Panel Discussion: "Bridging the gap between basic and clinical researchers." Panelists: James Sleigh (University College London), Tracey Willis (Robert Jones & Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital), Mèlissa Bowerman (Keele University), Ewout Groen (University Medical Centre Utrecht)

Abstracts

We invite abstract submissions across all 3 session themes for one of two talk types:

• (a) 5 minute talks (no pressure for data; project plans highly welcome)- ideal for MSc or 1st-year PhD students
• (b) 15 minute talks- ideal for later-stage PhD students or postdoctoral researchers

Abstract submission deadline is 14th August. Speakers will be notified if their abstract has been accepted for a talk no later than 21st August. 

Please submit abstracts to: https://forms.gle/jZtYokSaCbzM7VKt9

Thanks to the kind sponsorship of both UK SMA and SMA Europe, we are pleased to offer several prizes for the best ECR talks, so please do encourage any interested lab members to submit using the link above!

There is also an option to include a graphical abstract with any submission. With the speaker's permission, these will be showcased on both the @uksmarec Twitter page and in the conference brochure (see below), and represent an exciting additional opportunity for ECRs to be featured! 

Attendance and networking

This conference will be hosted over the video platform Zoom. Joining details will be made available closer to the on the conference "hub" on Slack: https://join.slack.com/t/uksmarec/shared_invite/zt-g4s8sn8l-xTimgopll9vYsqJXk7JnKQ

For all attendees, please use the Slack link for secure access to the conference Zoom link.

In light of our current inability to "network" in person, we also encourage all attendees to utilise the channels created, including spaces for extra Q&As for speakers (for those questions that get missed when time runs out!), highlighting recent publications from your group, and various open spaces to chat and discuss SMA research-specific topics. The only thing missing is the conference coffee, but may we suggest that making your own may be rather more enjoyable! 

PI advertisement opportunity

Closer to the date, we will circulate a brochure containing all speaker abstracts, graphical abstracts, keynote speaker biographies and some additional SMA-specific information. 

We also invite any PIs who wish to advertise studentship or postdoctoral positions in this brochure and/or a Slack channel to contact any of the organisers or uksmarec@gmail.com. 

Contact and additional information

For the most up-to-date information, we invite you to follow the Twitter handle @uksmarec (https://twitter.com/UKSMArec). However, any questions may be directed to ourselves (addresses CC'ed in this email) or to uksmarec@gmail.com