Channel: SciFri

Category: Entertainment

Description: Visit our website for more info about the #BreakthroughFestival​: sciencefriday.com/breakthroughfestival What do killer snails and trauma have in common? Both are studied by Breakthrough scientists who want to better understand pain and trauma to lessen their hold on humans. Join Drs. Mandë Holford and Bianca Jones Marlin for a livestream discussion moderated by Nicole Williams from 500 Women Scientists. This is your chance to ask a venom scientist and a neuroscientist questions and hear about the leading-edge science they’re working on. You can also join the conversation online by using the hashtag #BreakthroughFestival. We encourage attendees to watch the Breakthrough videos featuring Mandë Holford and Bianca Jones Marlin in advance of the event: The Killer Snail Chemist and The Trauma Tracer. Mandë Holford (@scimaven) is an Associate Professor in Chemistry at CUNY Hunter College and The CUNY Graduate Center, with scientific appointments at the American Museum of Natural History and Weill Cornell Medicine. Her joint appointments reflect her interdisciplinary research, which goes from mollusks to medicine, combining chemistry and biology to discover, characterize, and deliver novel peptides from venomous marine snails for manipulating cellular physiology in pain and cancer. Her laboratory investigates the power of venom to transform organisms and to transform lives when it is adapted to create novel therapeutics for treating human diseases and disorders. Dr. Holford received her Ph.D. in Synthetic Protein Chemistry from The Rockefeller University. Bianca Jones Marlin (@bjmarlin) is a neuroscientist and Assistant Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Columbia University, and recently opened the Marlin Lab at Columbia University’s Zuckerman Institute. She holds a Ph.D. in neuroscience from the New York University School of Medicine, and dual bachelor degrees in biology and adolescent education from St. John’s University. As a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Nobel Laureate Dr. Richard Axel, she investigates transgenerational epigenetic inheritance, or how trauma in parents affect the brain structure and sensory experience of their future offspring. Dr. Jones Marlin is also a science communicator, including her work as a member of the #BlackInNeuro community.