Symposium Agenda
9:10-10:20 a.m. | Welcome, followed immediately by opening keynote address (DeBerardinis)
10:30-11:20 a.m. | Trainee Talks
11:30-12:30 p.m. | poster session 1
12:30-1:30 p.m. | Lunch with speakers
1:40-2:30 p.m. | Trainee Talks
2:30-3:30 p.m. | poster session 2
3:45-4:45 p.m. | Closing Keynote Talk (Larsen)
4:45-5:00 p.m. | Student Awards & Closing Remarks
About the Keynote Speakers:
Ralph DeBerardinis, MD, PhD
Ralph DeBerardinis earned a BS in biology from St. Joseph’s University and MD and PhD degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. DeBerardinis was the first trainee in the combined residency program in pediatrics and medical genetics at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and received several awards for teaching and clinical care. He ultimately achieved board certification in pediatrics, medical genetics and clinical biochemical genetics. DeBerardinis performed postdoctoral research in Craig Thompson’s laboratory in the Penn Cancer Center from 2004 to 2007. He joined the faculty of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in 2008 and joined the Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) shortly after its founding in 2012. DeBerardinis serves as chief of Pediatric Genetics and Metabolism at UT Southwestern and director of the Genetic and Metabolic Disease Program in the CRI. DeBerardinis became a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator in 2018 and was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2020. The DeBerardinis laboratory is interested in the role of altered metabolic states in human diseases, particularly pediatric inborn errors of metabolism and cancer. This research is tightly integrated with clinical activities in medical genetics, oncology and radiology, providing seamless opportunities to examine the relevance of findings in patients.
Joe Larsen, PhD
Joe Larsen is Vice President, Clinical Development at Locus Biosciences where he leads development programs for Locus’s clinical stage assets. Previously, Larsen was Vice President, Strategic Portfolio Development at Venatorx Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company focused on the development of novel antibiotics. Prior to that, Larsen spent ten years in the federal government, including serving as Deputy Director of Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) medical countermeasures at the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), where he oversaw the $2.8B Project Bioshield fund for the late-stage development and procurement of medical countermeasures. Larsen received his PhD in microbiology and immunology at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and a BA in microbiology from the University of Kansas.