The National Center for CryoEM Access and Training (NCCAT), along with the Pacific Northwest Center for CryoEM (PNCC), and the Stanford-SLAC CryoEM Center (S2C2) are hosting a new monthly webinar series. Talks will highlight work from scientists that have used center resources to further their biomedical research programs with a focus on cryoEM methods. We hope the Q&A session after the seminar will stimulate discussion of best practices and interesting challenges that will be helpful to researchers new to the field. Representatives from all three national service centers will also be on hand to answer questions about the cryoEM resources available to biomedical researchers and how to access them.

 

Our inaugural seminar is September 24, 2020 at 12 PM EDT / 9AM PDT

 

Dr. Priyamvada Acharya, Director of the Division of Structural Biology at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute will talk about her labs work on CryoEM of the SARS-CoV-2 spike

 

Talk Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred world-wide scientific research collaborations and efforts to find effective interventions. Since early this year, like many other research groups, we sought to repurpose our knowledge and skills to the study of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S) protein. In this talk, I will present our work over the past few months to setup pipelines for biophysical, biochemical and structural studies of the SARS-CoV-2 S protein. In a methods-focused presentation, I will review our cryo-EM structural determination pipeline with particular emphasis on specimen optimization of SARS-CoV-2 S protein samples. Finally, I will describe the close network of collaborations at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute that are working to develop COVID-19 vaccines and therapies, and the role that structural biology and cryo-EM play in it.

All are welcome to attend. Registration is at no-cost, but sign-up is required:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_FJvdpAUfSzqSJdpySs3aug