2025 Embryology Schedule

Module 1:  Microscopy, Arthropods (June 2- June 7)

Sun, June 1

Reception & Dinner, 7pm 2^nd Floor Loeb 256

Tatjana Piotrowski, (Stowers); Athula Wikramanayake, (Univ. Miami), Welcome and course overview. Bring your posters

Mon, June 2

Morning lecture (9-11am)

Speck Auditorium

Athula Wikramanayake, (Univ. Miami). Evolution of metazoan body plans.

Nipam Patel (MBL) Key concepts in development as seen through Drosophila embryogenesis

Afternoon lecture and lab (1pm)

Speck Auditorium

Lecture: Lisa Cameron, (Duke U.), Michelle Itano, (UNC), Paula Montero Llopis (Harvard), Light and confocal microscopy 

Lab: Looking at fly embryos

Evening lab (7:30pm)

Imaging Unknown Fly Stains; Lisa Cameron, (Duke U.), Michelle Itano, (UNC), Paula Montero Llopis (Harvard

Tues, June 3

Morning lecture (9-11am)

Speck Auditorium

Nipam Patel (MBL) Establishment of the Drosophila body plan

Melanie Worley (UVA) Growth and patterning during post-embryonic development of Drosophila

Afternoon lab (1pm)

Drosophila larval analysis; Dissection of additional arthropods, and continued analysis of Drosophila unknown stains.  Students begin their own antibody and in situ stains to familiarize themselves with handling samples and these techniques

Evening lab (7:30pm)

microscopy lab

Continue working on larvae and other arthropods and visualization and analysis using unknown stains

Introduction of small group projects

Wed, June 4

Morning lecture (9-11am)

Speck Auditorium

Melanie Worley (UVA) Regeneration in Drosophila

Heather Bruce (UBC-Vancouver) Arthropod appendages: homology and novelty over half a billion years

Afternoon (1:30pm) & evening labs (7:30pm)

Arthropod Lab continued

Students complete their own initial stains; and begin small group projects

Student presentations of Drosophila unknowns

Thur, June 5

Morning lecture (9-11am)

Speck Auditorium

Guilherme Gainett (Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School), Visual system diversification in arachnids: eye loss and major transitions in eye types

Prashant Sharma (University of Wisconsin, Madison) Analyses of genome architecture and comparative development break impasses in the evolutionary biology of "Arachnida"

Afternoon (1:30pm) & evening labs (7:30)

Arthropod Lab continued; continue group projects

Evening Lecture:  Butterfly wing coloration and tour of butterfly collection

Fri, June 6

Morning lecture (9-11am)

Speck Auditorium

Anyi Mazo-Vargas (Duke U.), Diving into butterfly wing patterning: Understanding genomic organization and signals driving diversity

Lesley Weaver (Indiana University), Drosophila as a model to understand inter-organ communication 

Afternoon (1:30pm) & evening labs (7:30pm)

Arthropod Lab continued; continue group projects

Sat, June 7

Morning lecture (9-11am)

Speck Auditorium

Michalis Averof (Lyon) Perfect regeneration of a complex organ; does regeneration mirror development? (Rose lecture)

Afternoon (1:30pm) & evening labs (7:30pm)

Arthropod Lab continued; complete group projects

Sun, June 8

7:00pm

Scavenger hunt and course dinner

Things to do this week: T-shirt design for class, softball t-shirt, parade committee

Module 2:  Nematodes, Annelids, Acoels (June 9- June 14)

Mon, June 9 

Morning lecture (9-11am)

Speck Auditorium

Dave Sherwood, (Duke),  Introduction to C. elegans, and The ins and outs of oocyte to zygote transition

Afternoon & evening labs

C. elegans

Tues, June 10

Morning lectures (9-11am)

Speck Auditorium

Geraldine Seydoux, (Johns Hopkins/ HHMI), Assembly and function of germ granules

Dan Dickinson (UT Austin), Establishing and regulating cell polarity in the early C. elegans embryo

Afternoon lab

C. elegans.

 Wed, Jun 11

Morning lecture (9-11am)

Speck Auditorium

Student symposium (5min talk, 2 min questions). 104/105 Candle House

Afternoon & evening labs

C. elegans. Library/MRC tour.

Thurs, June 12

Morning lecture (9-11am)

Speck Auditorium

Duygu Özpolat (Wash U, St. Louis. Zoom lecture), Cellular mechanisms of regeneration in annelids

Elaine Seaver, (Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience), Embryology and regeneration: an annelid perspective

Afternoon & evening lab

Annelids (C. elegans)

Fri, June 13

Morning lecture (9-11am)

Speck Auditorium

Mansi Srivastava, (Harvard), The evolution of regeneration and stem cells: the acoelomorph perspective; and, Plasticity across development and evolution

Afternoon & evening labs,

Acoels (C. elegans, annelids)

Sat, June 14

10am

Tour marine invertebrate culture center

Afternoon & evening labs

C. elegans, acoels, annelids,

Class presentations (9pm)

Show ‘n Tell 1; lab clean up

Sun, June 15

Free time

Module 3:  Basal deuterostomes and spiralians  (June 16- June 21)

Mon, June 16

Morning lecture (9-11am)

Speck Auditorium

Athula Wikramanayake, (Univ. Miami), Introduction to echinoderms and early patterning

Zak Swartz, (MBL), A (sea) star is born: oogenesis and early development in a changing ocean

Afternoon & evening labs

Marine Resource Center tour and tour of Loeb. (1-3PM) schedule!

Jon Henry, (MBL), Zak Swartz (MBL), Margherita Perillo (MBL), Athula Wikramanayake (UMiami), Tool making & microinjection (use echinoderms to practice microinjections) (3-6PM)

Tues, June 17

Morning lecture (9-11am)

Speck Auditorium

Laurinda Jaffe (University of Connecticut)(Lillie lecture) Fertilization and the activation of development

Margherita Perillo, (MBL), Sea stars and sea cucumbers as models for organogenesis.

Afternoon & evening labs

Echinoderms. Sea stars

Wed, June 18

Morning lecture (9-11am)

Speck Auditorium

Bob Zeller, (San Diego State Univ.), Introduction to ascidian development - sea squirts made easy.

Ed Munro, (Univ. Chicago), Coupling cell fate and morphogenesis in Ascidians

Afternoon & evening labs

Evening discussion

Echinoderms, ascidians.  Athula Wikramanayake, (Univ. Miami) and Tatjana Piotrowski, (Stowers Institute), Ethics Discussion- authorship and navigating mentor/mentee relationships

Thur, June 19

Morning lecture (9-11am)

Speck Auditorium

Ed Munro, (Univ. Chicago), Dynamics of neural tube closure in ascidians

Alberto Stofi (Georgia Tech), A conserved RNA switch for acetylcholine receptor clustering at neuromuscular junctions in chordates

Afternoon & evening labs

Ascidians (echinoderms)

evening lecture (fish bowl)

Jon Henry (MBL). Twists and turns of spiralian developmental biology

Fri, June 20

Morning lecture (9-11am)

Speck Auditorium

Dede Lyons (Scripps Institute of Oceanography)(Kessel Lecture), Developmental origins of molluscan novelties 

Afternoon & evening labs

Spiralians (echinoderms, tunicates)

Sat, June 21

Morning lecture (9-11am)

Speck Auditorium

Elia Benito- Gutierrez (Univ. of Cambridge, UK). Cephalochordates, Amphioxus.

Afternoon & evening labs

spiralians, tunicates, echinoderms

Sun,  June 22

Morning and Afternoon

Free time

Evening lecture (8pm)

Elke Ober (FAU Erlangen, Germany). Introduction to ZF development

Module 4:  Fish and Frogs (June 23- June 28) (Please note that there will be morning and evening labs, and afternoon lectures this week)

Mon, June 23

Morning lab (9am)

Zebrafish

Afternoon lecture (1-3pm)

Speck Auditorium

Tatjana Piotrowski, (Stowers Institute), Zebrafish intro; sensory lateral line development/regeneration

Evening lab (7:30-8:30pm) 

Zebrafish/ frog lab intro

Tues, June 24

Morning lab

Zebrafish, Frogs

Afternoon lecture (1-3pm) 

Speck Auditorium

John Wallingford (Univ. of Texas, Austin), What 25 years of vertebrate Planar Cell Polarity hasn’t taught us

Evening lab

Zebrafish, Frogs

Wed, June 25

Morning lab 

Zebrafish, Frogs

Afternoon Lecture (1-3pm)

Speck Auditorium

Elke Ober, (FAU Erlangen, Germany), Building an organ -  liver development and regeneration

Evening lab

Frogs, Zebrafish

Thur, June 26

Morning lab

Frogs, Zebrafish

Afternoon lecture (1-3pm) 

Speck Auditorium

Andrea Wills, (Univ. Washington), Decoding the transcriptional and metabolic requirements for vertebrate regeneration

Shinuo Weng (Johns Hopkins University), Decoding multiscale biomechanics in convergent extension

Evening lab

Frogs, Zebrafish

Fri, June 27

Morning lab

10:30am

Zebrafish, Frogs

Afternoon lecture (1-3pm) 

Speck Auditorium

Marina Venero-Galanternik (University of Utah),  Anatomical and molecular characterization of the zebrafish meninges

Andrew Gillis, (MBL) Skate development and evolution of the vertebrate skeleton

Evening lab

Zebrafish, Frogs, Skates

Sat, June 28

Morning lab

Zebrafish, Frogs

11am

Fish room tour with Elke Ober

Afternoon lecture 1:30pm

Speck Auditorium

Dan Rokhsar (UC Berkeley)(Rafferty lecture), The past has left its traces on the world: deeply conserved synteny and the evolution of animals

Evening lab

Zebrafish, Frogs

Class presentations 8pm

Show ‘n Tell 2; lab clean up

Sun, June 29

Whale watching trip to Hyannis

Module 5:  Chicks and Mouse (June 30- July 5)

Mon, June 30

Morning lecture (9-11am)

Speck Auditorium

Peter Lwigale (Rice University), Introduction to avian development

Tatjana Sauka-Spengler, (Stowers Institute), Gene Regulatory Networks.

Afternoon & evening labs

Chick

Tues, July 1

Morning lecture (9-11am)

Speck Auditorium

Richard Behringer (MD Anderson). Introduction to mouse development/sex development

Afternoon & evening labs

Mouse (chick)

Wed, July 2

Morning lecture (9-11am)

Speck Auditorium

Ondine Cleaver (UTSW), Introduction to mouse development and development of the vascular system

Afternoon & evening labs

Chick and mouse

Thur, July 3

Morning lecture (9-11am)

Speck Auditorium

Afternoon & evening labs

Stephan Grill (Max-Planck-Institute Dresden, Germany; Katsuma and Jean Dan lecture hosted by Physiology). Physics of Structure Formation in Living Systems.

Chick and mouse

Fri, July 4

July 4^th Parade

Free time, parade. Course BBQ next to white tent at 6pm and watch fireworks on beach.

Sat, July 5

Morning lecture (9-11am)

Speck Auditorium

Peter Lwigale (Rice University), Partnering of Periocular Neural Crest Cells during Ocular Development

Marcos Simoes-Costa (Harvard University), The avian embryo as a model for developmental genomics

Afternoon/evening labs

Chick and mouse, softball game,  After game BBQ

Sun, July 6

Free time

Module 6: Cephalopods, Cnidarians, Ctenophores (July 7- July 12)

Mon, July 7

Morning lecture (9-11am)

Speck Auditorium

Carrie Albertin (MBL) Evolution and development of cephalopod brains and body plans

Afternoon

Cephalopods

evening lab

Cephalopods, squid injections.

Tues, July 8

Morning lecture (9-11am)

Speck Auditorium

Celina Juliano (UC Davis), Mechanisms of development and regeneration in Hydra.

Afternoon & evening labs

Cnidarians, Nematostella

Wed, July 9

Morning lectures (9-11am)

Speck Auditorium

Matt Gibson, (Stowers Institute), Anthozoan overview: The biology of sea anemones and reef building corals, and.

Your inner anemone: segments, somites, and the evolution of animal metamerism

Afternoon & evening labs

Cnidarians, Nematostella

Thur, July 10

Morning lecture (9-11am)

Speck Auditorium

Bill Browne (Univ. Miami), Using Mnemiopsis as a model to investigate ctenophore innate immunity

Athula Wikramanayake (Univ. Miami), The evolution of signaling pathways: insights from Wnt/beta-catenin signaling in non-bilaterians

Afternoon labs (1:30PM)

Evening labs

Ctenophores (cnidarians, cephalopods)

Ctenophores (cnidarians, cephalopods)

Fri, July 11

Morning lecture (9-11am)

Speck Auditorium

Olivier Pourquie (Harvard) (Saunders lecture). Laying down the body plan: lessons from the embryo, and

Deconstructing and reconstructing the human musculo-skeletal system in vitro with pluripotent stem cells.

Afternoon & evening labs

Cnidarians (ctenophores, cephalopods)

Sat, July 12

Morning lecture (9-11am)

Speck Auditorium

Ehab Abouheif (McGill), What ants––nature’s ultimate superorganisms––teach us about development and evolution

Afternoon labs

cnidarians, ctenophores, cephalopods

Class presentations, (8pm)

Show ‘n Tell 3

Sun, July 13

Morning discussion (11am)

Athula Wikramanayake, (Univ. Miami) and Tatjana Piotrowski (Stowers Institute)

Afternoon lab

Lab clean-up

Evening (7:30pm)

Course banquet and award ceremony