9:00–9:05 Welcome
Autumn Marsden, Gulf Coast Consortia
Mehmet Sen, University of Houston
9:05–9:50 Keynote Presentation
Soft-Physics Biology and How Physical Forces Shape Cell Fate and Function
Dennis Discher, University of Pennsylvania
Session I
Convenors TBA
9:50-10:15 Decoding Structural Polymorphism of Tau Amyloids in Disease
Lukasz Joamchimiak, UT Southwestern
10:15-10:40 Biomechanical Thrombus Profiling: A Multi-Cohort Study
Yunfeng Chen, UT Medical Branch, Galveston
10:40-11:10 Networking Break
Session II
Convenors TBA
11:10-11:35 Structural Insights into Brain Thyroid Hormone Transport by MCT8 and OATP1C1
Pengxinag Huang, Baylor College of Medicine
11:35-12:00 Engineered Peptides and RNAs Enable Enhanced CRISPR-Based Epigenetic Editing
Isaac Hilton, Rice University
Convenors TBA
12:00-12:35 Lightning Poster Talks
12:35-2:30 Lunch and Posters, Event Hall
12:35–1:30 Lunch
1:30–2:30 Poster presentation
Convenors TBA
2:30-2:40 Vendor presentation
From Stability to Binding: Enhancing Deeper Insights with NanoTemper
Nathan Wallace, Nano Temper
2:40-2:55 Using Topographic Biomolecule Nanopatterning for Single-Molecule Protein/DNA Analysis
Viraj Ghosh, Rice University
2:55-3:10 Inflammatory Condensates – How Neurotoxic Peptides Modulate RNA-Mediated Innate Immune Activation
Paulo Onuchic, Baylor College of Medicine
3:10-3:25 Motor Transport and Ribosome Anchoring Kinetically Control Mitochondrial mRNA Localization
Surbhi Sharma, Baylor College of Medicine
3:25-3:45 Networking break
Session III
Convenors TBA
3:45-4:10 Structure-Based Design of Selective and Biased Dopamine D2 and D3 receptors (D2R-D3R) Bitopic Agonists and Cellular Signaling Evaluation
Alessandro Bonifazi, UT Medica Branch, Galveston
Rising Star Plenary Speaker Convenors TBA
4:10-4:45 Deciphering the Language of Transcriptional Condensates in Health and Disease
Ben Sabari, UT Southwestern
4:45-5:45 Closing remarks and
Reception-Prefunction area