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Bioclock Academy

What is the bioclock academy?

  • The BioClock Academy are monthly online seminars in which researchers in the field of chronobiology speak about a topic related to the biological clock, with a key focus to introduce basic concepts and understanding of biological rhythms. This includes topics within chronobiological fields of medicine, ecology, psychology and biomedical sciences.

  • When?

    Seminars take place every third Wednesday of the month, from 16:00-17:00 (GMT+1, Amsterdam). The 60 minute seminars (40 min. talk + 20 min. discussion) are free to join and take place via Zoom.

  • By who?

    Organized by the BioClock Academy Committee, with scientists from the consortium and around.

  • For whom?

    Our goal is to educate early career scientists who are new to the field of chronobiology. But, everyone is welcome to join!

  • How to attend?

Upcoming seminar

Prof dr John B. Hogenesch is an American chronobiologist and Professor of Pediatrics at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. The primary focus of his work has been studying the network of mammalian clock genes from the genomic and computational perspective to further the understanding of circadian behavior.

Over the course of his career, Hogenesch has made numerous contributions to the understanding of the core clock mechanisms. He discovered the key proteins Bmal1 (Arntl), and Bmal2 early in his career. He was also on the team that discovered Rora to be an important regulator of Bmal1. Rora is currently under investigation for a possible connection to autism, which may relate to its function as a circadian regulator. Hogenesch has also contributed to the identification of hundreds more genes that modulate circadian rhythms in humans by using genome wide RNAi scanning and more recently, he discovered new clock gene CHRONO using novel computer based machine learning techniques to prioritize clock gene candidates.

Image by Hans van Kooten

Schedule

March 20, 2024

Prof. John Hogenesch

Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, US

Topic: Building circadian medicine in a pediatric hospital.

April 17, 2024

Prof. Frank Scheer

Division of Sleep Medicine, Harvard Medical School, US

Topic: Cardiometabolic effects of circadian misalignment

May 15, 2024

Prof. Susan Golden

Center for Circadian Biology, University of California, San Diego, US

Topic: Cyanobacterial circadian rhythms in vivo and in vitro


Past seminars

Seminar 11 – Seasonal timing – Prof. dr. Marcel Visser

prof. dr. Marcel Visser (NIOO-KNAW) is widely recognized as a world-leading expert on the ecological and evolutionary impact of anthropogenic environmental changes. He aims to understand how climate change disrupts natural systems, using long-term studies on wild species. His work on phenological mismatch within food chains has turned his model species, the great tit, into the poster child for climate change impact. In his research he integrates work on epigenetic regulation of gene expression, fitness consequences of timing in the wild, with the impact of climate-change on population numbers.

seminar 10 – Melatonin – dr. Marijke Gordijn

Academy Lecture on September 20 (’23) by dr. Marijke Gordijn “Melatonin and melatonin treatments”

seminar 9 – clocks & mental health – dr. niki antypa

Academy lecture on June 21 (’23) by dr. Niki Antypa: “Clocks in depression”

seminar 8 – Human rhythms – dr. Laura Kervezee

Academy lecture on May 17 (’23) by dr. Laura Kervezee: “Human chronobiology in the lab and in the field: from molecular rhythms to clinical applications”

Seminar 7 – Plant clocks – dr. Ellen Cieraad

Academy lecture on April 19 (’23) by dr. Ellen Cieraad: “Illuminating disruptors of the plant clock”

Seminar 5 – Brain clock – prof. Andries Kalsbeek

Academy lecture on February 15 (’23) by prof. Andries Kalsbeek, Amsterdam UMC: “The ins and outs of the central brain clock”

Seminar 4 – entrainment by light – prof. Roelof Hut

Academy lecture on January 18 (’23) by prof. Roelof Hut, University of Groningen: “Light entrainment of circadian clocks”

Seminar 3 – Molecular clocks – Dr. Ines Chaves

Academy lecture on November 16 (’22) by Dr. Ines Chaves, Erasmus MC: “Molecular Clocks; zooming in on circadian rhythms”

Seminar 2 – Clocks in ecology – Dr. ir. Kamiel Spoelstra

Academy lecture on October 19 (’22) by Dr. ir. K. Spoelstra, NIOO-KNAW: “Clocks in ecology”

Seminar 1 – Central circadian clock – Prof. Johanna Meijer

Academy lecture, on September 21 (’22) by Prof. J.H. Meijer, LUMC: “The neuronal network organization of the central circadian clock”