Marine Organisms as Model Systems in Biology and Medicine

<div>1.Differentiation and transdifferentiation of sponge cells</div><div>Maja Adamska, Division of Biomedical Science and Biochemistry, Research School of Biology</div><div>Linnaeus Building 134, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia<br></div><div><br></div><div></div><div><br></div><div>2.Crabs review</div><div>Parvez Alam, Marie Curie Very Experienced Research Fellow, University of Edinburgh, UK<br></div><div>Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, UK<br></div><div>Adjunct Professor: Composite Materials and Biostructures, AAU, Finland<br></div><div>Visiting Professor in Biomimetics, UGM, Indonesia<br></div><div><br></div><div> </div><div><br></div><div>3. Medusa review</div><div>Cheryl Ames, Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, Washington District of Columbia, USA</div><div><br>4. The crown of thorns starfish: from coral reef plague to model system<br>Kenneth W Baughman, Marine Genomics Unit, Okinaw</div>a Institute of Science and Technolog, Graduate University, Onna, Okinawa, 904-0495, Japan&nbsp;<div></div><div><br></div><div>5.Vision made easy: box jellyfish can advance our understanding of systems level visual information processing</div><div>Jan Bielecki, Marine Biological Section, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 4, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark</div><div><br></div><div></div><div><br></div><div>6. Mechanisms of immune response in corals</div><div>Luis F. Cadavid, Dept. de Biología & Instituto de Genética, Universidad Nacional de Colombia</div><div>Bogotá DC, Colombia<br></div><div><br></div><div> </div><div><br></div><div>7. Starfish as a model system for analyzing signal transduction during oocyte maturation and fertilization</div><div>David Carroll, Director of Graduate Programs in Biology Dept. of Biological Sciences Florida Institute of Technology 150 West University Blvd. Melbourne, FL 32901, USA</div><div><br></div><div>8. Translational regulation in marin</div>e organisms and interest in cancer research<div>Patrick Cormier, Responsable équipe Traduction Cycle Cellulaire et Développement, Laboratoire de Biologie Intégrative des Modèles marins- LBI2M- UMR8227, Station Biologique CNRS UPMC, Place Georges Teissier CS 90074, 29688 ROSCOFF CEDEX, France</div><div><br></div><div></div><div><br></div><div>9. Octopus vulgaris: an invertebrate alternative model system of complex brain</div><div>Anna Cosmo, Department of Biology, University of Napoli Federico II, Napoli, NA 80126, Italy</div><div> <br></div><div></div><div><br></div><div>10. Cellular and molecular mechanisms of regeneration in echinoderms</div><div>Carlos Diaz-Balzac and Garcia-Arraras, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Department of Genetics, Ullmann Building, Room 709, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461, USA</div><div><br></div><div></div><div><br></div><div>11. Post-embryonic development (spec ifically metamorphosis) as a model for cell restructuring and differentiat</div>ion in sea urchins<div>Andreas Heyland, University of Guelph, Integrative Biology, 50 Stone Rd East, SCIE 1468, Guelph, ON N1G-2W1, Canada</div><div><br></div><div></div><div><br></div><div>12. Small ncRNAs repertoire associated with immunity on Tunicates" or "ncRNA evolutionary patterns in Tunicata"</div><div>Cristian Arley Velandia Huerto, MSc Bioinformatics Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Grupo RNomica teórica y computacional, Colombia</div><div> <br></div><div></div><div><br></div><div>13. Jellyfish as the model for the evolution of sensory systems and stem cell differentiation</div><div>David K. Jacobs, Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.</div><div><br></div><div></div><div><br></div><div>14. Regeneration in Echinoderms</div><div>Youssra Ben Khadra, Laboratory of Genetics, Biodiversity and Valorization of Bioresources, Higher Institute of Biotechnology, University of Monastir, Monastir, Tunisia, and Unive</div>rsity of Barcelona, Spain<div><br></div><div></div><div><br></div><div>15. Starfish oocytes as a model system for meiosis research</div><div>Peter Lénárt, Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69117, Heidelberg, Germany</div><div> <br></div><div></div><div><br></div><div>16. Marine pharmacology</div><div>Alejandro M.S. Mayer, Department of Pharmacology, CCOM?Midwestern University?555 31st Street, Science Hall 322J, Downers Grove, Illinois 60515, USA</div><div><br></div><div></div><div><br></div><div>17. Actin cytoskeleton and egg activation in sea urchin and starfish</div><div> L. Santella, Department of Biology and Evolution of Marine Organisms, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121 Napoli, Italy</div><div><br></div><div></div><div><br></div><div>18. Ascidians as model organisms for studying regeneration</div><div>Shenkar Noa, Department of Zoology George S. Wise Faculty of Life Science Tel-Aviv Univers</div>ity, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel and The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History and Israel National Center for Biodiversity Studies<div><br></div><div> </div><div><br></div><div>19. Marine nemertean worms as model systems for studying oocyte maturation and fertilization</div><div>Stephen Stricker, Department of Biology, MSC03 2020, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, USA</div><div><br></div><div></div><div><br></div><div>20. The evolution of sperm chromatin in marine invertebrates</div><div>Anna Török, Centre for Chromosome Biology, School of Natural Sciences, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland</div><div><br></div><div></div><div><br></div><div>21. More than just evo-devo: Tunicates as model organisms for dissecting chordate gene regulatory networks</div><div>Michael Veeman, Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA</div><div><br></div><div></div><div> <br></div><div>22. Primary cell culture and transfection in crustaceans</div><div>To</div>mer Ventura, Aquaculture Biotechnology Research Fellow, University of the Sunshine Coast 4 Locked Bag, Maroochydore DC Queensland, Australia 4558<div><br></div><div></div><div><br></div><div>23. Stem cells of the reproductive system (sea urchin, starfish)</div><div>Gary Wessel, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and Biochemistry, Box G, 185 Meeting Street, Brown University, Pr ovidence, RI, USA</div><div><br></div><div></div><div><br></div><div>24. Echinoderm oocytes and embryos to understand mechanisms of cell and embryonic polarity</div><div>Athula H. Wikramanayake, Professor and Chair of Biology, University of Miami, Florida, USA</div><div>&nbsp; &nbsp;</div>