The UF Health Cancer Center invites you to its annual Research Showcase at the Reitz Union Grand Ballroom on Jan. 31, 2024. This annual event includes a keynote presentation by a nationally renowned cancer researcher, a judged poster session with prizes for the top trainee posters and three-minute thesis presentations by the Cancer Center Predoctoral Award recipients.
Schedule of Events
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 3–6 p.m. | Poster session |
| 6:15–6:45 p.m. | Predoctoral awardee presentations |
| 7–8 p.m. | Keynote address: Christopher Mason, Ph.D. |
| 8 p.m. | Poster winners announcement; group photos of award winners; adjourn |
Poster session
Wednesday, Jan. 31 | 3–6 p.m.
The UF Health Cancer Center recognizes the importance of providing a forum for our trainees to showcase your research and we are excited to welcome you to our poster session.
UF Health Cancer Center Predoctoral Awards
Wednesday, Jan. 31 | 6–6:45 p.m.
The UF Health Cancer Center is seeking applications for the UF Health Cancer Center Predoctoral Awards, awarded annually to up to six graduate students. These awards are intended to recognize and support outstanding predoctoral candidates who are conducting innovative cancer research.
Awardees will be asked to give a three-minute thesis presentation at the UF Health Cancer Center Research Showcase 2024.
Keynote address
“Genetic and Epigenetic Reprogramming in Cancer and Spaceflight”
Wednesday, Jan. 31 | 7–8 p.m.
Dr. Christopher Mason is a professor of genomics, physiology and biophysics at Weill Cornell Medicine and director of the WorldQuant Initiative for Quantitative Prediction. He is also co-founder and scientific director at Onegevity/Thorne, co-founder and global director at Biotia, genomics director at Tempus Labs and author of The Next 500 Years: Engineering Life to Reach New Worlds and The Age of Prediction.
Dr. Mason and his lab develop and deploy computational and experimental methodologies to identify the functional genetic elements of the human genome and metagenome. They perform research in three main areas: (1) molecular profiling of extreme phenotypes, including aggressive cancers, unusual diseases and long-duration missions in astronauts, (2) creating new biochemical and computational techniques in DNA/RNA sequencing and DNA/RNA base modifications, and (3) the development of new cell and genome modifications. In the very long term, his lab believes these systems-based methods will enable an understanding of the functional elements of the human genome and metagenome, such that it will be possible to begin to repair or re-engineer these genetic networks for ameliorating disease and lay the foundation to enable long-term human survival.
Dr. Mason has won the NIH’s Transformative R01 Award, the NASA Group Achievement Award, the International Space Station (ISS) R&D Award, the CDC Honor Award for Standardization of Clinical Testing, the Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance Young Investigator award, the Hirschl-Weill-Caulier Career Scientist Award, the Vallee Scholar Award and the WorldQuant Scholar Award, and he serves on the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Decadal Survey for NASA. He was named as one of the “Brilliant Ten” Scientists by Popular Science, featured as a TEDMED speaker and called “The Genius of Genetics” by 92Y. He has written two books and more than 300 peer-reviewed papers, featured on the covers of Nature, Science, Cell, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Microbiology and Neuron, as well as legal briefs cited by U.S. District Courts and the U.S. Supreme Court. Coverage of his work has also appeared on the covers of the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, TIME, The LA Times, and many media outlets (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, CNN, PBS, NASA, NatGeo).
He is an inventor on five patents and co-creator of five FDA-authorized diagnostic tests. He has co-founded 10 biotechnology companies (Aevum, Biotia, BridgeOmics, Cosmica, Fremen Space, Genome Liberty, Nurture Genomics, Onegevity, Resilience Health, and Ursa Bio) and three nonprofits (MetaSUB, Testing for America, TwoFrontiers) and serves as an adviser to 32 others. He lives with his daughter and wife in Brooklyn, New York.
Parking and more information
Parking & transportation
Parking at the Reitz Union is very limited. We encourage you to use our shuttle service.
Information booths
We will have space available to display information about resources for UF Health Cancer Center researchers. Please contact us if you are interested in displaying a poster or hosting a table.
