Basic Science Symposia

The Basic Science Symposia have been an integral part of STARS since its inception. In fact, it was the overwhelming success of the very first symposium, “DNA in Biology and Medicine,” that ultimately led to the development of STARS.

The symposia are presented by UT Southwestern Medical Center faculty and cover a variety of current topics in biomedical research. In order to help teachers infuse this up-to-date information into the classroom, specific learning activities are developed by STARS staff to accompany each symposium.

Due to increasing demand, the Basic Science Symposia has recently been expanded to include two six-hour symposia and four two-hour “mini-symposia” each school year. Many teachers use these sessions to help fulfill state certification and school district requirements for professional development.

2018–19 Symposia Schedule

2018 Symposia

September 10, 2018
“Inferring Protein Function from DNA”
Mini-Symposium
Vincent Tagliabracci, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Molecular Biology
Neal Alto, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Microbiology
October 13, 2018
“Autism Spectrum Disorders”
Basic Science Symposium
November 5, 2018
“Immunotherapy”
Mini-Symposium
Yang-Xin Fu, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Pathology, Immunology, Radiation Oncology
David Gerber, M.D., Associate Professor, Internal Medicine, Department of Clinical Science

2019 Symposia

January 7, 2019
“How Neurons Find Their Way”
Mini-Symposium
Jonathan Terman, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Neuroscience, Pharmacology
Xuewu Zhang, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Pharmacology, Biophysics
March 2, 2019
“Women in Science & Medicine Symposium” – Careers for Women in Biomedicine
Special-Symposium
April 8, 2019
“Energy Homeostasis”
Mini-Symposium
David Mangelsdorf, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Pharmacology, Biochemistry
Philipp Scherer, Ph.D., Professor, Internal Medicine, Cell Biology

2018–19 Teacher In-services

Saturday, December 8, 2018

“Visualizing the Molecules that Drive Biology - A Workshop on Incorporating Structural Biology into the Classroom”

Michael Reese, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Pharmacology, Biochemistry

Saturday, February 2, 2019

“Biotechnology 101”