In 2009, Dr. Tanja Godenschwege, FAU Jupiter Life Science Initiative scientist and Associate Professor, and Dr. Grace Zhai, Associate Professor at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, spearheaded the Flies on the Beach- South Florida Drosophila Research Consortium. This inaugural event dedicated to Drosophila research was held at the FAU Boca Raton campus and consisted of researchers from FAU, the UM Biology Department, and the UM Miller School. Since then, this research symposium has steadily grown every year and encompasses all areas of fly research taking place within the growing research environment of south Florida.
Dr. Alex Keene, FAU Jupiter Life Science Initiative scientist and Associate Professor, hosted the 9th annual Flies on the Beach Research Symposium for Drosophila Neurobiology at FAU’s John D. MacArthur Campus in Jupiter. The Jupiter Life Science Initiative is a collaborative effort between the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science and the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College that is aimed at building educational and research capabilities in the life sciences. This year, over 80 researchers from a half dozen south Florida universities and FAU’s partner institution, the Scripps Research Institute of Florida, attended the two-day event to hear speakers, network and share research findings. The featured speakers included scientists from Brandeis University, Florida State University College of Medicine, Hughes Medical Institute, Indiana University and Purdue University. Trainee talks were held on the second day with presentations from labs at FAU, Scripps Florida, Florida State University and the University of Miami.
