Notes from Biology Club 4 Feb Planning Call

[Jenny Molloy]

Hi All

Great meeting and well done everyone who did a dive into the topic areas - we now have a two month plan which was the goal, so achievement unlocked. You can find the notes from our meeting below and in the shared notes document. Please take a moment to check your actions :)

If you are due to get a title and short blurb to Vamsi, please do so by Mon 8 Feb so we can get the titles loaded on the Meetup group before the first round of publicity for the inaugural meeting of the club on 22 Feb.

The next meeting will be on 18 Feb, 19:30-20:30 and will be a check-in for those who are organising one of the evenings to go over hosting tips, last minute publicity and how to engage participants more in club activities. We might also get to discussing more meeting ideas, if time allows.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Jenny

PS Quick note that we are still looking for someone to tag in from me and coordinate (i.e. keep on track with what is happening, make sure each meeting has an organiser and facilitate planning calls). Let me know if you think you might be able to help with this!

I'm happy to co-pilot for a bit but due to increasing work commitments I have to prioritise my volunteer work for the Biomakespace board and handover this much more fun role, unfortunately.

4 Feb 2021 - Session Planning 

Notes

Attending

Jenny, Tony (Naggs), Katia, Barbara, Chinna, Vamsi, Richard, Tony (New), Carlos

22 Feb - Low-cost spectroscopy event (Title TBC)

08 Mar - Community biology around the world

22 Mar - From concept to market in biotech

12 Apr - Forming patterns (Title TBC)

26 Apr -  TBC

10 May - TBC

24 May - TBC

Barbara & Carlos & Vamsi: community biology around the world

Update: Barbara has some suggestions from Jenny of who could be contacted from each continent. Aiming for 5-8 speakers. Could do a pre-record if the timezone.

Support needed: help with invitations

Actions: 

• Confirm title and blurb with Vamsi

• Barbara and Carlos to start contacting people this week or next

Carlos & Chinna & Tony New: Low-cost spectroscopy 

Felt like there might be a lot to do spectroscopy in one hour but could do a show and tell on approaches to low-cost spectrophotometry. Others can chip in with applications they are looking at which use spectrophotometry. Can ask about what inline monitoring or other problems people have. 

Support needed: Chinna can organise and chair with introductions etc

Actions: 

• Chinna to confirm title and blurb with Vamsi

Vamsi: Science fiction devices

Lots of devices but a bit of a generational issue. Couldn’t really find speakers but could have it as a regular feature, like a question to ask speakers if they were inspired by science fiction or have a device they would love to see emerge. Keep a biology focus.

Support needed: none

Actions: Jenny to add to the event host guide

Jen: genetic counselling, day in the life, careers

Mentioned about genetics or genomics counseling and would be nice as a one off but not a theme. Careers thing won’t be a fit. Wondering about bioethics as have a speaker in mind to approach. Other thoughts around bioinformatics and in silico biology. Cambridge AI Department had inaugural meeting a week ago so brought it to mind. Bioinformatics could be really good e.g. based on planned CRISPR workshops. Maybe thinking also about data privacy and business models that

Support needed: some assistance thinking through bioinformatics idea

Action: 

• Confirm title and blurb with Vamsi

• Jen will email genetics counsellor

• Jen to start a quick thread on google group about ideas for bioinformatics

• Set up a running list of other event ideas: Data privacy and genomics, how to build ethical companies e.g. could invite Repositive.. To be picked up at a later meeting.

Russell & Katia & Barbara: Being an entrepreneur in biotech

Thinking of inviting Al at Reading to talk about the interface of academic tech and industrial development. Focused a lot on affordable microfluidics and diagnostics. Pockit Dx on concept to market as a small startup. Focus on entrepreneurial journeys and concept to market (business models, personal story, motivations etc). Would be interesting to identify unmet needs in different sectors, ideas of what is required as a discussion point and troubleshooting issues.

Support needed: none

Action: 

• Confirm title and blurb with Vamsi

• Barabara to invite Al Edwards & Pockit Dx 

Carlos: Hands on session on pattern formation

Last session because I need to perfect the protocols with kitchen ingredients, using foil to create a convection current with hexagons and could also use stresses in polymers. Very relevant to patterns that appear in bee hives, petals and other biological system. Spoke to Rebecca Hoyle who is a world expert, she was a pass but I can find someone to talk on this with symmetry breaking.

Support needed: none until ready to have protocols tested

Action:

• Confirm title and blurb with Vamsi

General Notes

• Voted to extend sessions to 90 min with caveat that there is no need to fill the time!