Precision medicine hackathon and curation coming

Posted on by ginger

Preliminary analysis or your work on the Relationship Extraction task

We have been working on a preliminary analysis of the relationship extraction data generated by our fantastic Mark2Curators. This analysis is in the process of being written up into an academic paper and if your data was used for this paper, you will be given option of being credited on a page on our site dedicated to the contributors for this paper. We expect to have an email notifying contributors to the data set out by early next week, so keep an eye out for it.

San Diego Hackathon / Curation Jamboree

If you are in San Diego the week of October 14th, and have a background in software development, engineering, computational biology, bioinformatics, pathology, oncology, genomics, or biocuration--there is a hackathon/curation jamboree happening on October 15th-October 16th. The event is a joint event between the Griffith Labs, Su and Wu Labs and will cost $25 to register. Mark2Cure is a project of the Su Lab focusing on biomedical literature curation; while, the hackathon is focused on the CIViC resource from the Griffith labs. CIViC is an open access, open source, community-driven web resource for Clinical Interpretation of Variants in Cancer which aims to enable precision medicine by providing an educational forum for dissemination of knowledge and active discussion of the clinical significance of cancer genome alterations. You can learn more about this event at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cancer-variant-interpretation-hackathon-and-curation-jamboree-tickets-48287431006?aff=General

World Alzheimer Day

In case you missed it, September 21st is World Alzheimer’s day, and our friends at EyesOnAlz will be holding a world-wide Catchathon. Our very own TAdams organized a local team to participate in a previous Catchathon. If members of the Mark2Cure community are interested in teaming up and contributing with other Mark2Curators for this Catchathon, we would be happy to organize a Mark2Cure team for the event. Otherwise, if you are interested in contributing to Alzheimer’s research from the comfort of your own computer on an individual basis, we 100% encourage you to do so!

Science by the people and for the people—introducing a new Citizen Science project from the Knight Lab at UCSD

If you’ve ever wished that there was a citizen science project for answering questions about how nutrition and other habits affect health and other outcomes—there’s now a new platform to address your questions. This platform, Galileo, comes from the Knight Lab at the University of California, San Diego—the same lab that is responsible for the American Gut project!

Here’s how it works:
gutinstinct Learn more at gutinstinct.ucsd.edu/info

Register for the NAMA Annual Foray in Salem Oregon while there’s still space available

Posted on by SD Myco

Hello Mushroom Lovers!

In this email, Foray Chair Sam Landes reveals more exciting news about NAMA’s upcoming foray in the Pacific Northwest, October 11-14.

BC: Let’s talk mushrooms first. What kinds of “only in the Northwest” mushrooms should we be able to find in mid-October?

SL: It’s the beginning of matsutake season and the Oregon truffles may be starting too. Since our foray sites will range from the Cascade Mountains to the Oregon coast, we’ll be able to find quite a variety of fungi.

BC: Mushrooms are only part of the fun of the foray. What else will we especially like about this spot?

SL: The MacCleay center is a great facility. It’s a conference center as opposed to a camp, so it’s designed for adults. The space is compact and level and the rooms have air conditioning and heat. There’s an outdoor pool, a hot tub, and his and her saunas. There’s a coffee bar and we can bring beer and wine. The food is good, and there will be vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options. There are small designated smoking areas for any legal substance and plenty of places to socialize.

There’s great stuff off the grounds, too. We’ll be just 15 minutes away from Salem, Oregon’s capital. You’ll find lots of vineyards and craft breweries along the way. We’ve planned half-day forays at Silver Falls State Park, voted the best state park in Oregon:  https://www.oregonlive.com/travel/index.ssf/2018/03/readers_pick_their_12_favorite.html

For those who prefer to stay in a hotel, we’ve arranged special rates at the Best Western Pacific Highway Inn in Salem.  It is about 15 minutes from the Macleay Center.
https://www.bestwestern.com/en_US/book/hotels-in-salem/best-western-pacific-highway-inn/propertyCode.38086.html
Call to request the NAMA rate.

BC: I know that you’ve scheduled some of our favorite traditional events such as a mushroom feast (mycophagy) and lots of lectures. Are there any “for the first time” or “only in Oregon” events people will want to know about?

SL: We have several speakers from Oregon State University. One of Friday evening’s keynote speakers, professor Sara Robinson, will be speaking about spalted wood—beautifully colored and patterned wood that results from fungal decay.  Check out Spalted Wood (the movie) here: http://spaltedwood.com/. On Saturday, she’ll give a wood turning demonstration and also have pigment samples for you to paint with.

There will be sessions on identification, photography, and cultivation. As always, there will be a mushroom tasting, and members of local clubs will offer cooking demonstrations.

If that isn’t enough fun and fungi, put on this great foray t-shirt  and head 50 miles down the road to the Breitenbush Hot Springs Mushroom Gathering, October 18-21.

The full event schedule will be posted on NAMA’s website soon.

For registration information, see https://www.namyco.org/nama_2018_salem_oregon_foray.php