Course: ArcadiaNatlPark.EvolutionaryMedicine.Aug6-10
From the Evolution Directory (EvolDir) via Twitter.
*Evolutionary Foundations for Medicine and Public Health: Focus on
Infection and Cancer <http://www.mdibl.org/courses/Evolution_and_Medicine/398/>
August 6-10 at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory, Bar Harbor,
Maine
Registration <http://www.mdibl.org/courses/Evolution_and_Medicine/398/> *
CME credit available
Discounted tuition for trainees
Many enrolled "students" are leaders in their fields; this course will be
appropriate for professional biologists and for practicing medical
professionals as well as students.
This course will be limited to 40 participants. It will be appropriate for
those with a background in biology and/or medicine at diverse levels.
Special expertise in evolutionary biology is not required, however those
who have already studied evolutionary biology will have specialized
opportunities. In order to maximize benefits to this developing field,
admission preference will be offered to physicians and professors who teach
or anticipate teaching courses on the subject, and to members of minority
groups who may be eligible for support from the National Evolutionary
Synthesis Center. Researchers and students from advanced undergraduate to
postdocs will be warmly welcomed. For more information on evolution and
medicine, see The Evolution and Medicine Review
*Faculty*
Randolph Nesse ¡V University of Michigan (Course director)
Douglas Brash ¡X Yale University
Carlo Maley ¡V University of California San Francisco
Athena Aktipis -- University of California San Francisco and Arizona State
University
Andrew Read ¡V Pennsylvania State University
Mark Schwartz¡XNew York University
Stephen Stearns ¡V Yale University
Robert Woods -- University of Michigan
*Description*
This intensive one-week course will introduce strategies for applying core
principles of evolutionary biology to problems in medicine and public
health, with a special focus on infection and cancer. The course will not
attempt to cover all possible applications, it will focus on a few
examples. Some especially relevant principles include life history theory,
host pathogen co-evolution, the regulation of defenses, developmental
plasticity, and trade-offs shaping reproductive strategies. These
principles will be applied to clinically relevant topics including aging,
antibiotic resistance, clinical management of fever, endothelial disease,
prenatal experience and metabolic syndrome, and reproductive cancers. This
year¡¦s course will have extensive special expertise available on topics
related to cancer and infectious disease. Mornings will be devoted to
lectures and structured discussions. After lunch, participants will gather
in small groups for faculty led discussions on a number of specialized
topics such as strategies to prevent antibiotic resistance, the role of
infection in mental disorders, how social evolution theory might advance
new chemotherapy strategies, how viral sequences get incorporated into
genomes, the role of imprinting in controlling gene expression.
Participants will be in small workgroups with faculty and others who share
specialized interests. Most workgroups will investigate a specific topic,
for instance, malignant melanoma, cervical cancer, breast cancer, sexually
transmitted diseases, antibiotic resistance, or vaccine design. Other
groups will address other topics such as strategies for educating
physicians, creating curriculum materials, or current debates about levels
of selection. Each group will develop a possible research or teaching
project, for presentation on Friday. Individuals are also free to create
their own projects. Late afternoons are not prescheduled, so participants
can organize their own additional discussions and projects or pursue
individual interests, including recreation in Acadia National Park.
Several optional preplanned expeditions are available, including whale
watching, and guided hikes in the park. More information about
evolutionary medicine is at The Evolution and Medicine
Review<http://evmedreview.com/>
*Tentative Schedule*
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday *7-8 am* Self-serve breakfast
available in Dining Hall Self-serve breakfast available in Dining Hall
Self-serve
breakfast available in Dining Hall Self-serve breakfast available in Dining
Hall Self-serve breakfast available in Dining Hall *8-9 am*
Overview of core evolutionary principles
Nesse/Faculty
Evolution and Infectious Disease
Read
Cancer: An introduction
Brash
Infectious causes of cancer
Read/Maley
Social evolution: Theory and applications to cancer progression
Aktipis
*9-10 am*
Overview of core evolutionary principles
Nesse/Faculty
Evolution and Infection in the Clinic
Read
Cancer: Evolution
Maley
Regulation of Defenses
Nesse
Genetics and Personalized Medicine
Stearns
*10-10:30 am* Break Break Break Break Break *10:30 am - 11:30 am*
Life history theory and aging
Stearns
Brainstorming on Antibiotic Resistance
Read / Woods / Schwartz
Seminar on Methodology
Nesse / Faculty
Teachable Moments
Schwartz
Applications of Evolution to Cancer
Brash / Maley
*11:30-noon* Brainstorming for Workshop Topics Discussion / Special
Discussion
/ Special Discussion / Special Discussion / Special *Noon - 1:oopm
* Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch *1-2 pm*
*Small group discussions*
*Stearns*: Fads and fallacies vs the evolutionary science of aging
*Aktipis*: Hormones, behavior and reproductive cancer
*Nesse*: The Adaptation Wars
*Read*: Evolution-proof insecticides
*Schwartz*: Curriculum design
*Small group discussions*
*Woods*: Evolveability and robustness in micro-organisms
*Brash*: Skin cancer
*Read*: Antibiotic resistance and how to stop it
*Schwartz*: How to do 'Evolution Rounds'
*Maley*: Starting a cancer evolution program
*Small group discussions*
*Nesse*: Organic complexity
*Stearns*: Inferring the origins infectious diseases
*Maley*: How to study the evolutionary biology of cancer
*Woods*: Adaptive landscapes
*Aktipis*: Multi-level selection
*Small group discussions*
*Brash*: Stress responses and directed evolution
*Nesse*: Mental disorders
*Schwartz*: Organizing evolution-medicine interest groups
*Woods*: Can limiting antibiotic use minimize resistance?
*Small group discussions*
*Aktipis*: Metaphors and biases in cancer research and treatment
*Maley*: Open questions in the evolution of cancer
*Stearns*: the evolution of miscarriage, pre-eclampsia, and
pregnancy-related diabetes
*Read*: Vaccine driven pathogen evolution *2:00-3:30 pm*
Workgroups
Topics decided by the group Monday AM
Workgroups Workgroups Workgroups Workgroup Presentations
*3:30-5 pm* 4 pm Board bus for sunset whale watch boat trip
Open for personal activities including 4 pm volleyball
Open for personal activities including hiking (Brash) Open for personal
activities Workgroup Presentations *5-6 pm* Whale Watching Dinner Open
Dinner Reception *Evening* Whale Watching Open Dinner on your own intown
Open Lobster cookout
Randolph Nesse