Genes and Development Spring Retreat

March 22-24, 2012
T Bar M Conference Center
New Braunfels, Texas

Retreat Program

2012 Retreat Program (pdf)

Retreat starts Thursday, March 22 at 10:00 AM
Retreat ends Saturday, March 24 at 9:30 AM

Retreat Location

T Bar M Conference Center
2549 Hwy 46 West, New Braunfels, Texas 78132
Tel: (800) 292-5469
T Bar M Property Map (jpg)

Bus Information

On Thursday March 22, two buses will depart from in front of Mitchell BSRB at 7:30 AM; boarding starts at 7:00 AM.

On Saturday March 24, the buses will depart from T Bar M at 9:30 AM; boarding will begin at 9:00 AM. Upon returning Houston, the buses will drop off at 3 locations: 1st Stop: UT Housing, 7900 Cambridge; 2nd Stop: Brown Parking Lot; 3rd Stop: BSRB

Driving Directions

Directions and Map

Driving from Houston

Take I-10 West to Seguin
Exit at 607 / Seguin-New Braunfels.
Turn left at the first stop sign and then immediately get into the far right lane and turn right onto HWY 46 towards New Braunfels.
Go straight for approximately 21 miles. As you approach New Braunfels, you will go under I-35 and the road will become Loop 337.
Stay on Loop 337 for five miles to the Boerne-New Braunfels-Hwy 46 exit.
Turn Right onto HWY 46 and go approximately 2 miles to the T Bar M Entrance, which will be on the Left. You will see a T Bar M billboard just before the entrance.
Turn Left onto the entrance road and go about 1/4 mile to a parking area by the registration office. Park there or behind the two-story hotel building ahead and to the right.
Meeting and room registration is in the Chuckwagon building.

On-Site Meeting Registration and Hotel Check-In/Check-Out

When you arrive at T Bar M, please go the Chuckwagon building (#10 on the T Bar M map) and check in at our Retreat Meeting Registration Desk. You will be given your meeting packet, a hotel registration card and your room key. Please sign your hotel registration card immediately and give it to the staff at the meeting registration desk.

Please note that some of the hotel rooms may not be available until Thursday afternoon. If your room is not available, ask at the meeting desk where to store your luggage.

Room check-out is Saturday morning by 11:00 AM (the bus leaves at 9:30 AM). After checking-out, please store your bags in your car. You may stay at T Bar M and enjoy the amenities all day, but you must be out of your room no later than 11:00 AM.

Poster Sessions and Poster Set-Up

There will be two poster sessions: Thursday afternoon 4:10 – 5:40 PM (Odd Numbers) and Friday morning 10:30 – 12:00 PM (Even Numbers). All posters may remain up for the entire meeting. Posters will be numbered in alpha order based on last name. All presenters are expected to be at their posters during their session.

Please set up your poster upon arrival Thursday morning during the registration period from 10:00 to Noon. You will mount your posters on numbered 4' x 4' cardboard, tri-fold stands that will be set on tables in the meeting hall; each poster stand will be numbered. Adhesive will be provided on site for you to use. You will receive a numbered abstract list in your meeting folder upon arrival. Your number on the list corresponds to your poster number.

Poster Guidelines and Photo Examples

Speaker Information

If you are giving a talk, please bring your slide presentation on a flash drive to the meeting hall (Texas Sage) 15 minutes before your session starts. A session host will be there to help you with your file.

Platform and Poster Awards Presentation – Don't Leave Early!

Platform and Poster awards will be presented at the end of dinner on Friday. All winners must be present at the award presentations to receive their award.

Abstract Books

The 2012 retreat abstract book will be on the G&D Intranet website March 14. A limited number of abstract books will be available at the meeting registration desk and in the meeting hall.

http://inside.mdanderson.org/departments/genes-and-development-graduate-program/pdf/2012abstractbookweb.pdf

Breakout Sessions

There will be one breakout session on Thursday and one on Friday. Each breakout session will feature four concurrent workshops on different topics that are listed in the program. Two breakout session leaders are special guests, Dr. Elizabeth Eich of Rice University and Dr. Errin Lagow of Asuragen, Inc.

Retreat Sponsors

Sponsors of this year’s retreat are: Biomedical Solutions (Bill Stacy and John Kingston), New England BioLabs (Lynn McBee), VWR (Lanette Woodward), GenScript (Tian Ding) and BD Biosciences (Donna Fogt). They will display their company information at tables in the meeting hall.

Department Cores at Retreat

Representatives of three cores will present posters during the meeting: the Genomics Facility, the DNA Analysis Facility, and the Protein Production Group. Their posters will be near the front of the poster room.

Meals

All meals will be provided starting with Thursday lunch and ending with Saturday breakfast.

T Bar M Recreation Options

There are many different activities to enjoy during the two-hour recreation period Friday afternoon from 1:30 to 3:30 PM. A softball game will start at 1:45 in the softball field opposite the Hotel Registration office. Other outdoor activities include tennis, walking trails, swimming (unheated), hot tub, and putting green (in front of the poster room). Indoor activities include a volleyball game at 1:45, air hockey, table tennis, pool, fitness center, and an Xbox Kinect room. Equipment for everything is available for check-out at the activity desk in the sports center (even the Xbox items!).

Thursday Evening Entertainment

A program of skits organized by students, Avinash Venkatanarayan and William Munoz, will be held Thursday evening in the meeting hall (Texas Sage) at 9:15 PM after breakout session #1 ends. You won't want to miss this always entertaining program. Afterwards, gather with others to play board games in that room and/or hang out in the Hospitality Room, Condo #217. Please bring a board game to share.

Friday Evening Entertainment

Immediately after the awards presentation Friday evening, a hosted retreat social with karaoke will be held in the same location (Sanctuary Building). In addition, a campfire will be set-up in front of Chuckwagon (Poster Room). And, the hospitality room will open at 9:30 PM in Condo #217.

About the Retreat

The Genes & Development Program (G&D), the Department of Genetics and the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology sponsor an annual two-day scientific retreat each spring that students, postdocs, faculty and scientific staff in the two departments and G&D labs attend. The retreat offers trainees an outstanding opportunity to learn about the science going on in the program labs, and to meet and get to know each other, the faculty and other researchers in a relaxed setting. Past retreats have been held on the Texas Gulf Coast, in the Texas Hill Country and in the Texas Piney Woods.

With the goal of facilitating scientific exchange and interactions among members of the two departments and the G&D Program, the 2012 retreat will feature trainee and faculty research talks, poster sessions, keynote address by Yolanda Sanchez of Dartmouth, breakout sessions and mealtime mentoring tables on career development topics, and recreation time. Posters will be presented by students, postdocs and research staff. All trainee posters and trainee platform talks will be judged by faculty for cash awards.

If you have any questions about the retreat, please contact one of the following members of the 2012 retreat organizing committee. All registration questions should be directed to Elisabeth or Deborah.