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Keypoint Newsletter: Fall 2024 Conference Highlights & Enhanced Programming

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We wrapped up the year with a handful of Fall conferences at home and abroad, spanning Colorado to California, Canada and Ireland.  These meetings featured Keystone Symposia's signature emerging science and unpublished data, as well as career development and networking opportunities that are critical to the professional growth and success of our attendees. 

See the impact and inspiration from the participants perspective in a selection of quotes and social media posts below. 

In addition, our Fall conferences featured some new programming to enhance the attendee experience, including:

  • Women in Science Networking Events
  • Meet-the-Editor Workshops
  • Panel Discussions and Forums for interactive discussion on topics ranging from scientific challenges to professional opportunities

These special programming additions provided forums for trainees, early-careers scientists and established researchers alike to develop the skills, knowledge and connections to achieve their professional goals. 

Read more about enhanced programming below

 

Inspiring Science & Scientists in New Directions

 
 

Excellent environment promoting dynamic interaction and sharing of information and experience. Good representation of senior and junior investigators, across different areas of expertise.

-Attendee (Anonymous Survey Response)  

 

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Keystone Symposia Fellow Dr. Yvon Woappi Speaking at the Podium  #KSFibrosis25

Yvonne

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Honoring Scholarship Award Winners @ #KSFibrosis25

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Enhanced Programming for Professional Development

Drawing on feedback from past conference and eSymposia attendees, we implemented some new programming inspired by your ideas and interests! These programming additions reach beyond the science to support professional development and enhance attendees engagement with each other to strengthen networks and communities.

Women in Science Networking Events

Our Women in Science Networking Events are designed to promote gender equity at our conferences and within the scientific community as a whole, by providing support, mentorship and career development opportunities for women who face unique challenges in their professional careers. Read more here.

Meet-the-Editor Workshops

Meet-the-Editor Workshops are designed to foster connections between editors and scientists of all career stages. These mutually beneficial relationships facilitate the publication process for researchers, while providing editors with insights into exciting new discoveries and research directions to showcase in upcoming journal issues.  

The Positive Strand RNA Viruses: Interdisciplinary Advances in Virology, Pathogenesis, Immunology, and Technology Development (F2), featured an Editor Panel with Nonia Pariente (PLOS Biology, Editor-in-Chief) Clare E. Thomas (Springer Nature, Senior Editor) and Christiana Fogg (Science Immunology, Senior Editor).  The discussion covered key questions to help researcher navigate the publishing world, for first-time manuscript writers to more seasoned authors. Topics included:
 
  • Advice for publishing a complete story in today's fast-paced, competitive publishing environment.
  • When to reach out to an editor before submitting a manuscript.
  • How to respectfully address a reviewer's comments if you disagree with them.
  • How are reviewers selected, and how to become a reviewer for a journal.

Moving forward, we will add Meet-the-Editor Workshops at more of our conferences to help attendees better understand and navigate the publishing world to their advantage.

 
 
Panel Discussions & Forums
 
While our conferences provide insight into detailed scientific research, the interactive nature of panels and discussion forums is invaluable to put these ideas into the context of the field and the biomedical ecosystem as whole.  In addition, career development discussions are crucial for the next generation of scientists to navigate current and future professional challenges. Therefore, we have added a variety of these engaging panel discussions to our conference programming, to enhance the value that we provide to attendees and spur conversation around these important topics.
 
For example, the Targeting Dry Age-related Macular Degeneration: Pathophysiology and Emerging Therapies conference program featuring the following discussions and workshops: 
 
  • Career Development: Exploring Research Paths and Possibilities in Academia, Industry & Beyond

  • Navigating your Professional Role(s): Overcoming Challenges and Discovering Solutions, Facing Barriers & Finding Allies  
  • Panel Discussion: Therapeutic Approaches Moving to the Clinic: The Present & the Future
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I loved the size of the conference. As a graduate student, I would rarely get a chance to interact with other researchers at multiple career stages, unless I was introduced by my PI. Here, as the group was so small, interactions between all attendees were natural and impromptu.

I also loved the panel discussions after each set of talks. It was invaluable to see multiple researchers reason their points especially when considering other evidence presented in their session. I felt the tone of the conference was more informal as a result of these factors and led to a more natural discussion on dry AMD as a general topic.

                   -Attendee (Anonymous Survey Response)  

 

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Shannon Weiman
Shannon Weiman earned her PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the University of California, San Diego, specializing in microbiology and immunology. Prior to joining the Keystone Symposia team, she worked as a freelance writer for leaders in academic, industry and government research, including Stanford University’s Biomedical Innovation Initiative, the University of Colorado’s Biofrontiers Program, UCSF, the FDA and the American Society for Microbiology.
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