First Friday Talks are typically held on the first Friday of the month during the academic year, however, this schedule can vary. Past First Friday Talks are archived below.
Upcoming Talks
Next Talk TBA
Friday, January 3:
Christopher Lowry, Ph.D.
"Synthesizing systems genetics resources to build an expanded genetical genomic model for predisposition to alcohol preference."
Friday, Jan 13th
Audrey Hendricks, Ph.D.
"Evaluation of Gene Summary Methods"
Friday, January 21:
Katie Commons, Ph.D.
"The Case of the Mysterious Modulator: Serotonin"
Friday, March 3:
Mary-Anne Enoch, M.D.
GABAergic Gene Expression in the Human Hippocampus after Chronic Alcohol and Cocaine Exposure-How to Distinguish Trait from State Effects?
Friday, March 17:
Kelly Klump, Ph.D.
The Genetic Diathesis of Eating Disorders: Critical Roles for Puberty and Ovarian Hormones
Friday, August 5:
Steven W. Gangestad, Ph.D.
"Individual Differences in Oxidative Stress: Theoretical Perspectives, Empirical Findings, and Possible Implications for Understanding Health Trajectories"
Friday, September 16:
Brian Browning, Ph.D.
"Modeling inter-marker correlation improves genotype accuracy and eliminates false positive genetic associations."
Friday, November 4:
Feng C. Zhou, Ph.D.
"Alcohol and Epigenetic Program during Development"
Friday, Dec 2nd:
Lara Saba, Ph.D
"Synthesizing systems genetics resources to build an expanded genetical genomic model for predisposition to alcohol preference."
Friday, Jan 8:
John C. DeFries, Ph.D
"Adventures in Behavioral Genetics"
Friday, February 5:
Al Collins, Ph.D.
"Booze, Butts and Genes"
Friday, March 5:
George Martin, Ph.D.
"Stochastic Modulations of Healthspan & Lifespan: Somatic Mutations & Epigenetic Gambling"
Friday, April 2:
David Duggan, Ph.D.
"The 1000 Genomes Project"
Friday, June 11:
Laramie Duncan
"Gene-Environment Interactions in Psychiatry: True Results or Type I Errors? "
Friday, November 5:
Chris Link, Ph.D.
"TDP-43 and neurodegeneration: What do you do after you have identified a human disease gene?"
Friday, December 3:
Jacqueline N. Crawley, Ph.D.
"Behavioral Phenotyping of Mouse Models of Autism: Towards Testing Hypotheses About Causes and Discovering Therapeutics"
Friday, Apr 3:
Ulrike Heberlein
"The unbelievable likeness of beings: Role of Lim-only proteins and their target genes in cocaine-related behaviors in flies and mice"
Friday, May 1:
Karl H. Pfenninger
"Science and
Resources in the
Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center"
Monday, Sept 28:
Justin S. Rhodes Ph.D.
"Genetic basis of motivation for physical activity"
Friday, Nov 13:
Ryan K. Bachtell Ph.D.
"Effects of reversing drug-induced neuroadaptations on drug-related behaviors"
Friday, Dec 4:
Philipp Kapranov, Ph.D.
"The multifaceted
human transcriptome"
February 8
Dr. Allan Collins, Ph.D., Professor, Departments of Psychology and Pharmacology, Department of Psychology; and Faculty Fellow, Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado, Boulder
"Teaching in Tanzania"
April 11
Marilyn E. Coors, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Bioethics and Genetics, Department of Psychiatry and the Center for Bioethics and Humanities, University of Colorado Denver
"The Interface of Bioethics and Psychiatric Genetic Research"
June 6
Henry A. Lester, Ph.D., Bren Professor of Biology, Department of Neuroscience, Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California
"Changes in the Brain During Chronic Nicotine"
Friday, October 3
Benjamin F. Voight
Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT & The Center for Human Genetics Research
Massachusetts General Hospital
Cambridge, Massachusetts
"Population-based Homozygosity Mapping using Whole Genome Association Data"
Doctoral Candidate
Department of Integrative Physiology & Institute for Behavioral Genetics
University of Colorado, Boulder
"Association of Nicotinic CHRNA5/A3/B4 Gene Cluster Variations & Disinhibitory Behaviors"
Department of Anatomy
University of California at San Francisco.
"Aging, Longevity Determinants and Age Associated Disease."
Min Han
Ph.D., Investigator and Professor, HHMI and Department of MCD Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado.
“Genetic Redundancy and Tumor Suppressor Functions in C. Elegans”
Kwang-Youn Albert Kim
Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Pediatrics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa.
“Unraveling Complex Diseases by Identifying Gene-Gene Interactions”
(Candidate for Behavioral/Mathematical Genetics Position)
Tiejun Tong
Ph.D., Postdoctoral Associate Division of Biostatistics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
“Minimax Estimation of Means with Applications to Microarray Data Analysis” (Candidate for Behavioral/Mathematical Genetics Position)
Wei Min Chen (Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Statistical Analysis, Department of Biostatistics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan).
“Efficient Use of Family Data in Genome-Wide Association Scans”
(Candidate for Behavioral/Mathematical Genetics Position)
Terence P. Thornberry & Pamela K. Porter
Dr. Thornberry, Director, Problem Behavior Program, Institute of Behavioral Science and Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Colorado, Boulder; and Pamela K. Porter (Research Coordinator, Rochester Youth Development Study, Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado, Boulder).
“Overview of the Rochester Intergenerational Study”
Laura Jean Bierut
M.D., Associate Professor, Washington University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, St. Louis, Missouri.
“Genetic Risk Factors for Nicotine Dependence”
September 7
Allan Jones, Ph.D., Professor, Chief Scientific Officer
Formerly Sr. Director of the Allen Brain Atlas Project—mid 2004-mid 2006 Both with the Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA
“The Mouse Transcriptome in 3D: The Allen Brain Atlas Project”
September 28
Dr. Stephen A. Petrill, Ph.D., Professor, The Ohio State University, Dept. of Human Development & Family Science, Columbus, Ohio
“Genes, Environments, and Growth in Early Reading Skills”
November 2
Dr. Evan S. Deneris, Ph.D., Professor, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Department of Neuroscience, Cleveland, Ohio
“Genetic Mechanisms Directing Development of the Brain Serotonin System”
Spring 2006
Brion Maher
Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Center for Craniofacial and Dental Genetics, Division of Oral Biology, School of Dental Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Title—ADHD, Endophenotypes and the Dopamine System”
Co-sponsored by IBG and the Department of Psychology, University of Colorado at Boulder
(Candidate for Behavioral Statistical Genetics Position)
Matthew McQueen
Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.
Title—“Mapping Genetic Determinants of Bipolar Disorder”
Co-sponsored by IBG and the Department of Psychology, University of Colorado at Boulder (Candidate for Behavioral Statistical Genetics Position)
Gregory A. Petsko
Gyula and Katica Tauber Professor of Biochemistry and Chemistry; Director, Rosenstiel Basic Medical Sciences Research Center, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts.
Title: “The Structural Enzymology of Parkinson’s Disease”
Jeesun Jung
Ph.D., Postdoctoral Associate, Division of Statistical Genetics, Department of Human Genetics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Title—Combined Linkage and Linkage Disequilibrium Mapping of Quantitative Trait Loci” Co-sponsored by IBG and the Department of Psychology, University of Colorado at Boulder (Candidate for Behavioral Statistical Genetics Position)
Jeesun Jung
Ph.D., Postdoctoral Associate, Division of Statistical Genetics, Department of Human Genetics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
“Gene Dropping vs. Empirical Variance Estimation: A Comparative Study of Standardization Methods for Allele-Sharing Statistics”
Co-sponsored by IBG and the Department of Applied Math, University of Colorado at Boulder (Candidate for Behavioral Statistical Genetics Position)
2006 Super Mouse Group Meeting—Sponsored by Beth Bennett.
The Super Mouse Group Meeting involves researchers giving 15 minute presentations on their current projects (including work mapping ethanol sensitivity genes), with discussion following.
Fall 2006
Ana Maria Cuervo
M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Anatomy and Structural Biology, and of Medicine, Marion Bessin Liver Research Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY.
“Selective Autophagy: Something Else Than Keeping Cells Clean”
Gary A. Churchill
Ph.D., Staff Scientist, The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine.
“Co-Adapted Alleles and the Evolution of Complex Traits”
Matthew B. McQueen
Sc.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology and Faculty Fellow, Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado, Boulder.
“Genome-Wide Association: Ready or Not Here it Comes”
Thomas E. Johnson (ibg.colorado.edu/tj-lab)
Ph.D., Professor of Behavioral Genetics, Department of Integrative Physiology and Faculty Fellow, Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado, Boulder.
“Review of the European Conference on Aging”
2005
1/13/2005: Lon Cardon, Ph.D., Professor of Bioinformatics, Principal Research
Fellow, Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford,
United Kingdom "The role of linkage disequilibrium in identifying complex
trait genes in humans”
Cosponsored by IBG and MCD Biology
2/4/2005: Marie Banich, Ph.D., Director of the Institute of Cognitive Science
and professor of Psychology, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder,
CO "Neuroimaging of attentional control and its potential linkage
to genetics”
Jointly sponsored by IBG and the Center for the Genetics of Antisocial
Drug Dependence
3/4/2005: Matthew Stephens, Ph.D., statistical geneticist with the University
of Washington in Seattle, develops statistical methods to analyze
human genetic data using haplotype mapping and tagging.
4/1/2005: Kaare Christensen, M.D., Ph.D., Dr. Medical Science, Professor of Epidemiology, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark; and Senior Research Scientist (part time employment) at the Terry Sanford Institute, Duke University, North Carolina, USA "Danish twin studies of aging: Why do we age so differently?"
5/6/2005: Tatiana Foroud, Associate Professor, Departments of Medical & Molecular Genetics and of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine “Genetics of alcoholism and the COGA study”
9/3/2005: Thomas E. Johnson, Ph.D., Professor of Behavioral Genetics, Department of Integrative Physiology, and Faculty Fellow, Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado, Boulder. (ibg.colorado.edu/tj-lab) “Genes Environment and Chance Interact to Determine Individual Life Span”
10/14/2005: Dr. Robert W. Williams, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Dunavant Chair: Developmental Genetics, Department of Pediatrics, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, Tennessee. “A Systems Genetics Approach to Genes, Brains, and Behavior”
11/4/2005: Dr. David Goldman, Senior Investigator, Laboratory of Neuro- genetics, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism , National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland. “Addictions: Linkage of functional alleles and haplotypes to intermediate neurobiologies and complex behaviors”
12/3/2005: Dr. Nicholas J. Schork, Professor, Departments of Psychiatry and Biostatistics, Associate Director, University of California, San Diego, Center for Human Genetics and Genomics. “Molecular, Clinical, and Population Profiling via Similarity Matrix Analysis”
2004
01/23/2004: Tatiana Foroud, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Medical & Molecular Genetics and of Psychiatry at Indiana University School of Medicine “Genetics of alcoholism and the COGA study”
02/13/2004: Richard Miller, Ph.D, M.D., Professor of Pathology & Associate Director of Geriatrics Center at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor: “Genetic analysis of aging and disease in mice”
02/27/2004: Michael Miles, Ph.D, M.D., Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology at Virginia Commonwealth University: “Genetics, drugs and chips: molecular triangulation on CNS plasticity”
04/02/2004: Joe Tsien, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology at Princeton University: “Inducible protein knockout and ensemble recording for the analysis of memory process in mice”
05/07/2004: Marina Picciotto, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Pharmacology & Neurobiology at Yale University School of Medicine: “Nicotine effects on signal transduction: possible mechanisms underlying addiction”
09/03/2004: Larry Gold, Chief Science Officer & Chairman of the Board, SomaLogic, Inc., Boulder, Colorado. “Do Serum Protein Concentrations Reflect Behavior?”
10/08/2004: James Sikela, Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Human Genetics Medical Program, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado. “Genome-Wide Identification of Great Ape and Human Lineage-Specific Genes”
11/19/2004: November 19, Al Collins,
Professor of Psychology and Pharmacology, Department of Psychology,
University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado. “Unfinished Business
12/16/2004: Leslie Morrow, Professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, Associate Director, Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. “The role of GABAergic Neuroactive Steroids in Ethanol Action, Tolerance and Drinking Behavior”