ABI faculty present at World Congress on In Vitro Biology Seven members of the Arkansas Biosciences Institute (ABI) faculty at ASU recently participated in the World Congress on In Vitro Biology held in Tucson, Ariz. This international congress, held every four years, focuses on issues pertinent to plant and animal research. ASU participants included Dr. Greg C. Phillips, dean of the Colleges of Agriculture, Engineering, and Sciences and Mathematics; Dr. Pam Weathers, Metabolic Engineering; Dr. Brett Savary, Agriculture; Dr. Argelia Lorence, Metabolic Engineering/Chemistry; Dr. Fabricio Medina-Bolívar, Plant Metabolic Engineering/Biology; Dr. Chunzhao Liu, assistant professor, Bioengineering; and Dr. Ganapathy Sivakumar, assistant professor, Bioengineering. For details, see the NewsPage release. Dr. Phillips presents at World Congress on In Vitro Biology Dr. Greg C. Phillips, dean, Colleges of Agriculture, Engineering, and Sciences and Mathematics, presented a session, “Interview Basics: Academia vs. Industry,” at theWorld Congress on In Vitro Biology and also participated in a related Student Education session followed by mock interviews with attending undergraduate and graduate students. He currently serves on the Society for In Vitro Biology publications committee, and attended editorial meetings for the society’s sponsored scientific journal, In Vitro Cellular and Developmental Biology – Plant, of which he is the outgoing editor-in-chief. Phillips will be involved in special editorial projects during the upcoming year in his role as editor-in-chief emeritus. Dr. Weathers presents at World Congress Dr. Pam Weathers, Metabolic Engineering, ABI, presented both talks and posters on “Murine Interleukin 12 Production in Tobacco Hairy Roots in 3 Reactor Systems,” and “Artemisinin Production from Artemisia annua Shoot Cultures.” Weathers served as session organizer and co-convener for the plenary session “Large-Scale Cell- and Tissue-based Production of Biopharmaceuticals and Secondary Metabolites.” Dr. Weathers also serves on the Board of Directors for the Society for In Vitro Biology (SIVB), and as chair of the Public Policy committee and chair of the Student Awards committee for the SIVB. The Public Policy Committee of the SIVB assists society members and the scientific community at large to better understand in vitro biology, biotechnology, and current research and public policy issues affecting the scientific community. Dr. Weathers holds the Judd Hill Chair in Agricultural Biotechnology. She also directs the Molecular Biosciences Graduate Program at ASU. Dr. Medina-Bolívar presents invited talk at World Congress Dr. Fabricio Medina-Bolívar, Plant Metabolic Engineering, ABI, presented an invited talk at the recent World Congress on In Vitro Biology.His talk, "Production and Neuroprotective Properties of Natural Resveratrol Analogs from Hairy Root Cultures," described the application of hairy root technology for the production and discovery of valuable plant-made chemicals with potential applications in human health, such as neuroprotection. Co-authors were Dr. Malathi Srivatsan, Biological Sciences, ABI, Dr. Maureen Dolan, Biochemistry/Molecular Biology, ABI, Dr. Ganapathy Sivakumar, Bioengineering, ABI, Dr. Mahadevappa Badanavalu, ABI, and Molecular Biosciences Ph.D. student Jose Condori. At this meeting, Dr. Medina-Bolivar was also chair of the session, "New Strategies for Production of Specialized Metabolites." Dr. Medina-Bolívar’s talk was highlighted in the June issue of the journal Agricell Report. Back to the top