Sunday
2:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Arrival and Check-in
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Dinner
7:30 pm - 7:40 pm
Introductory Comments by GRC Site Staff / Welcome from the GRC Chair
7:40 pm - 9:30 pm
Keynote Session: Centromeres: From Evolution to Human Health
Discussion Leader: Iain Cheeseman (Whitehead Institute, United States)
7:40 pm - 7:50 pm
Opening Remarks
7:50 pm - 8:30 pm
Harmit Malik (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, United States)
"Genetic Conflicts Drive Innovation in Centromeric Proteins"
8:30 pm - 8:40 pm
Discussion
8:40 pm - 9:20 pm
Karen Miga (University of California, Santa Cruz, United States)
"Genetic and Epigenetic Variation Across Human Centromeres"
9:20 pm - 9:30 pm
Discussion
Monday
7:30 am - 8:30 am
Breakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pm
Biophysical Properties of Centromeres
Discussion Leader: Stephen Harrison (Harvard Medical School, United States)
9:00 am - 9:05 am
Introduction by Discussion Leader
9:05 am - 9:15 am
Gunter Sissoko (Whitehead Institute, United States)
"CENP-T Local Concentration Regulates Outer Kinetochore Recruitment"
9:15 am - 9:25 am
Discussion
9:25 am - 9:45 am
Ekaterina Grishchuk (University of Pennsylvania, United States)
"Kinetochore Assembly Mechanisms: Lessons from In Vitro Reconstruction of the Ndc80 Recruitment via CENP-T Pathway"
9:45 am - 9:55 am
Discussion
9:55 am - 10:15 am
Ben Black (University of Pennsylvania, United States)
"Innovations to Strengthen Centromeres and Resist Spindle Forces"
10:15 am - 10:25 am
Discussion
10:25 am - 10:55 am
Coffee Break
10:55 am - 11:05 am
Gabriele Marciano (University of Oxford, United Kingdom)
"Divergent Polo Boxes in KKT2 and KKT3 Initiate the Kinetochore Assembly Cascade in Trypanosoma Brucei"
11:05 am - 11:15 am
Discussion
11:15 am - 11:35 am
David Barford (MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, United Kingdom)
"Mechanism of Centromere Recognition by Regional and Point Kinetochores from Structures of the Human and Budding Yeast Inner Kinetochore Complexes"
11:35 am - 11:45 am
Discussion
11:45 am - 12:05 pm
Andrea Musacchio (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, Germany)
"The Inner Self of the Centromere"
12:05 pm - 12:15 pm
Discussion
12:15 pm - 12:30 pm
Poster Previews
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Lunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Free Time
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
The GRC Power Hourâ„¢
The GRC Power Hourâ„¢ is designed to address diversity and inclusion in the scientific workplace by providing a safe environment for informal and meaningful conversations amongst colleagues of all career stages. The program supports the professional growth of all members of our communities, including ethnicity, race and/or gender identity by providing an open forum for discussion and mentoring.
Organizers: Elaine Dunleavy (National University of Ireland Galway, Ireland) and Rachel O'Neill (University of Connecticut, United States)
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Poster Session
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Dinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Centromeres in Meiosis and Stem Cell Division
Discussion Leader: Arshad Desai (University of California, San Diego, United States)
7:30 pm - 7:50 pm
Elaine Dunleavy (National University of Ireland Galway, Ireland)
"Centromere Assembly and Function in Drosophila Germline Stem Cells"
7:50 pm - 8:00 pm
Discussion
8:00 pm - 8:20 pm
Florian Steiner (University of Geneva, Switzerland)
"Setting Centromere Identity in the C. elegans Germ Line"
8:20 pm - 8:30 pm
Discussion
8:30 pm - 8:50 pm
Dean Dawson (Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, United States)
"Centromere-Pairing Mediates Meiotic Chromosome Segregation in Budding Yeast"
8:50 pm - 9:00 pm
Discussion
9:00 pm - 9:20 pm
Yukiko Yamashita (Whitehead Institute/MIT/HHMI, United States)
"Satellite DNA, Spermatogenesis and Speciation"
9:20 pm - 9:30 pm
Discussion
Tuesday
7:30 am - 8:30 am
Breakfast
8:30 am - 9:00 am
Group Photo
9:00 am - 12:30 pm
Centromere Dysfunction: Chromosome Segregation Defects and Disease
Discussion Leader: Ben Black (University of Pennsylvania, United States)
9:00 am - 9:05 am
Introduction by Discussion Leader
9:05 am - 9:45 am
Genevieve Almouzni (Institut Curie / CNRS, France)
"CENP-A and H3 Variants: a Team Involved in Genome Architecture"
9:45 am - 9:55 am
Discussion
9:55 am - 10:15 am
Beth Sullivan (Duke University, United States)
"Diversity in Centromeric States After Dicentric Chromosome Formation"
10:15 am - 10:25 am
Discussion
10:25 am - 10:55 am
Coffee Break
10:55 am - 11:15 am
Daniele Fachinetti (Institut Curie, France)
"How do Human Centromeres Preserve Their Function and Integrity?"
11:15 am - 11:25 am
Discussion
11:25 am - 11:35 am
Samuel Corless (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany)
"Locus Specific Protein Profiling Identifies a Direct Role for BET Bromodomain Inhibitors at Centromeres"
11:35 am - 11:45 am
Discussion
11:45 am - 12:05 pm
Lilian Kabeche (Yale University, United States)
"The Role of ATR on Centromere Identity"
12:05 pm - 12:15 pm
Discussion
12:15 pm - 12:30 pm
Poster Previews
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Lunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Free Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Poster Session
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Dinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Centromere Genomics, Evolution and Variability
Discussion Leader: Rachel O'Neill (University of Connecticut, United States)
7:30 pm - 7:50 pm
Ines Drinnenberg (Institut Curie, France)
"Evolution and Regulation of Holocentromeres"
7:50 pm - 8:00 pm
Discussion
8:00 pm - 8:20 pm
Julia Cooper (University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, United States)
"Mechanisms of Meiotic Centromere Dismantlement and Telomere-Mediated Restoration"
8:20 pm - 8:30 pm
Discussion
8:30 pm - 8:50 pm
Barbara Mellone (University of Connecticut, United States)
"Investigating the Role of Retroelement-Rich Islands at Drosophila Centromeres"
8:50 pm - 9:00 pm
Discussion
9:00 pm - 9:20 pm
Hironori Funabiki (The Rockefeller University, United States)
"The Nucleosome Remodeler that Facilitates DNA Methylation at Centromere-Associated Repeats"
9:20 pm - 9:30 pm
Discussion
Wednesday
7:30 am - 8:30 am
Breakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pm
Epigenetic Regulation of Centromere Identity
Discussion Leaders: Sue Biggins (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, United States)
9:00 am - 9:05 am
Introduction by Discussion Leader
9:05 am - 9:25 am
Daniel Foltz (Northwestern University, United States)
"Pathways Regulating Human Centromere Deposition"
9:25 am - 9:35 am
Discussion
9:35 am - 9:45 am
Catherine Naughton (MRC Institute of Genetics and Cancer, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom)
"Human Centromere Repositioning Activates Transcription and Opens Chromatin Fibre Structure"
9:45 am - 9:55 am
Discussion
9:55 am - 10:05 am
Arun Kumar Ganesan (National Cancer Institute, United States)
"Oncogenic lncRNAs Alter Epigenetic Memory at a Fragile Chromosomal Site in Human Cancer Cells"
10:05 am - 10:15 am
Discussion
10:15 am - 10:50 am
Coffee Break
10:50 am - 11:10 am
Yael Nechemia-Arbely (University of Pittsburgh, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, United States)
"Human Centromeres Drift Through Cellular Proliferation"
11:10 am - 11:20 am
Discussion
11:20 am - 11:30 am
Ben Carty (University of Oxford, United Kingdom)
"Adaption of Neocentromere Structure and Positioning in a H3K9me3 Heterochromatin Context"
11:30 am - 11:40 am
Discussion
11:40 am - 12:00 pm
Luca Comai (University of California, Davis, United States)
"Epigenetic Mechanisms of CENH3-Based Genome Elimination"
12:00 pm - 12:10 pm
Discussion
12:10 pm - 12:20 pm
Maiko Kitaoka (University of California, Berkeley, United States)
"Molecular Conflicts Disrupting Centromere Assembly Contribute to Xenopus Hybrid Inviability"
12:20 pm - 12:30 pm
Discussion
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Lunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Free Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Poster Session
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Dinner
7:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Business Meeting
Nominations for the Next Vice Chair(s); Complete the GRC Evaluation Forms; Discuss Future Dates and Venue; Election of the Next Vice Chair(s)
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Transcripts and Transcription Control of Centromere Function
Discussion Leader: Lars Jansen (University of Oxford, United Kingdom)
7:30 pm - 7:50 pm
Robin Allshire (Wellcome Centre for Cell Biology, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom)
"Heterochromatin Functions"
7:50 pm - 8:00 pm
Discussion
8:00 pm - 8:20 pm
Michael Blower (Boston University, United States)
"Regulation of Centromere Transcription by the Cohesion Complex"
8:20 pm - 8:30 pm
Discussion
8:30 pm - 8:50 pm
Dawn Carone (Swarthmore College, United States)
"Structural Consequences of Pericentric Satellite Expression"
8:50 pm - 9:00 pm
Discussion
9:00 pm - 9:20 pm
Rachel O'Neill (University of Connecticut, United States)
"Using T2T-Level Comparative Genomics to Study Centromere Function and Evolution"
9:20 pm - 9:30 pm
Discussion
Thursday
7:30 am - 8:30 am
Breakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pm
Building Blocks Around and Above the Centromere
Discussion Leader: Todd Stukenberg (University of Virginia, School of Medicine, United States)
9:00 am - 9:05 am
Introduction by Discussion Leader
9:05 am - 9:25 am
Tatsuo Fukagawa (Osaka University, Japan)
"Assembly of CCAN to Establish a Functional Kinetochore in Vertebrate Cells"
9:25 am - 9:35 am
Discussion
9:35 am - 9:45 am
Jack Houston (University of California, San Diego, United States)
"Pause or Play: Kinetochore-Based Control of Mitotic Timing Through PLK-1 Regulated Recruitment of CDC-20"
9:45 am - 9:55 am
Discussion
9:55 am - 10:15 am
Sabrine Hedouin (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, United States)
"Dual Activities of Cbf1 in the Control of Centromere Function"
10:15 am - 10:25 am
Discussion
10:25 am - 11:00 am
Coffee Break
11:00 am - 11:20 am
Needhi Bhalla (University of California, Santa Cruz, United States)
"The Spindle Contributes to Spindle Checkpoint Strength in C. Elegans"
11:20 am - 11:30 am
Discussion
11:30 am - 11:50 am
Fumiko Esashi (Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, United Kingdom)
"Centromeres as Universal Hotspots of Spontaneous DNA Breakage, Driving RAD51-Mediated Recombination"
11:50 am - 12:00 pm
Discussion
12:00 pm - 12:20 pm
Kumiko Samejima (University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom)
"Condensin is Essential for Structural Transformation of Centromeric Chromatin from G2 to Mitosis"
12:20 pm - 12:30 pm
Discussion
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Lunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Free Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Poster Session
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Dinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
New Concepts of Centromere Function and Regulation
Discussion Leaders: Ann Ehrenhofer-Murray (Humboldt University Berlin, Germany)
7:30 pm - 7:50 pm
Binyam Mogessie (Yale University, United States)
"Emerging Mechanisms of Accurate Chromosome Segregation in Female Meiosis"
7:50 pm - 8:00 pm
Discussion
8:00 pm - 8:20 pm
Takashi Akera (National Institutes of Health, United States)
"Centromere De-Condensation as a Reproductive Isolating Barrier in Mouse"
8:20 pm - 8:30 pm
Discussion
8:30 pm - 8:50 pm
Aaron Straight (Stanford University School of Medicine, United States)
"Spatial Organization of Centromeric Chromatin"
8:50 pm - 9:00 pm
Discussion
9:00 pm - 9:20 pm
General Discussion
9:20 pm - 9:30 pm
Closing Remarks
Friday
7:30 am - 8:30 am
Breakfast
9:00 am
Departure