EcoFAB Summit 2017

Developing a community strategy to advance standardized model ecosystems
Washington Marriott Wardman Park, Washington DC
April 27th to mid-day April 28th

Organizers:

Trent Northen, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Karsten Zengler, University California, San Diego
Kirsten Hofmockel, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Day 1 Agenda: April 27th

9:00 AM – 9:15 AM   Goals for the Summit:   Trent Northen, Karsten Zengler, Kirsten Hofmockel

9:15 AM – 9:30 AM   Discussion of goals

9:30 AM – 11:30 AM Session I: Grand challenges in microbiome research. Kirsten Hofmockel, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

9:30 AM – 10:15 AM Plenary Talk: The opportunities and challenges of metagenomics studies of ecosystems. Jill Banfield, University of California, Berkeley

10:15 AM – 10:35 AM Envisioning the next genre of microbiome research. James Tiedje, Michigan State University

10:35 AM – 10:50 AM Break

10:50 AM – 11:10 AM Sequencing until the cows come home: What else besides sequence data do we need to understand the microbiomes of animal systems? Matthias Hess, University of California, Davis

11:10 AM – 11:30 AM Systems biology of collapse, resilience, and drug tolerance in microbe. Nitin Baliga, Institute for Systems Biology

11:30 AM – 11:45 AM Session I Discussion: Decide on 10 largest challenges facing microbiome research

11:45 AM – 1:00 PM Roundtable Discussion: Grand Challenges (working lunch)

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM Decide on top 10 challenges that could be addressed using model ecosystems

2:00 PM – 4:00 PM Session II: Enabling technologies and computational models. Karsten Zengler, University of California, San Diego

2:00 PM – 2:45 PM Plenary Talk: Overcoming technical challenges in microbiome research, from ecosystem to bench to model system. Rob Knight, University of California, San Diego

2:45 PM – 3:05 PM Uncovering microbial and viral diversity at ecosystem scales. Emiley Eloe-Fadrosh, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

3:05 PM – 3:25 PM Chemical and physical communication in the soil microbiome. Beth Shank, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

3:25 PM – 3:45 PM Challenges and opportunities in modeling metabolism in communities. Costas Maranas, Pennsylvania State University

3:45 PM – 4:00 PM Session II Discussion

4:00 PM – 4:15 PM Break

4:15 PM – 5:15 PM Decide top 10 technologies that should be developed within EcoFABs to address grand challenges

5:15 PM – 5:30 PM Introduce goals for next day

Day 2 Agenda: April 28th

8:30 AM – 10:10 AM Session III: Early successes using model microbiomes. Trent Northen, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

8:30 AM – 9:15 AM Plenary Talk: Understanding the Bacteroidetes-Firmicute ratio in human gut. Terry Hwa, University of California, San Diego

9:15 AM – 9:35 AM A model system to study microbe-mediated plant growth promotion in the grasses. John Vogel, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

9:35 AM – 9:55 AM Using stable isotopes to deconstruct the players and processes of root-microbe-mineral interactions Jennifer Pett-Ridge, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

9:55 AM – 10:10 AM Session III Discussion

10:10 AM – 10:30 AM Break

10:30 AM – 10:40 AM Assignments for breakouts: determine the top priorities for advancing two model plant EcoFABs, one animal EcoFAB, and one soil EcoFAB Trent Northen, Kirsten Hofmockel, Karsten Zengler

10:40 AM – 12:00 PM Breakouts

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Breakout results (working lunch)

1:00 PM – 1:30 PM Group input and revision of priorities for model EcoFABs

1:30 PM – 2:00 PM Program manager talks on agency strategies relevant to model laboratory ecosystems and microbiome research (5 minutes each)

2:00 PM – 2:30 PM Summary of next steps

2:30 PM Close