Conference: Envisioning Developmental Biology For the Future

发育生物学研究的重点是研究生物体如何在时间、空间和尺度上形成和变化。该领域提出的问题对于理解生命及其驱动机制至关重要。尽管具有这种重要性，但如果不能采用更具创新性和技术先进的办法，该领域就有被抛在后面的危险。相反，那些使用这些方法的人不一定受过基本发育生物学概念和发现方面的训练。这些问题存在于动物和植物模型系统中，并反映为影响力下降的出版物，学生的购买和资助机构的支持。因此，与干细胞研究、生物工程、系统和合成生物学等相关领域相比，该领域正面临着变得不那么重要的危险。这个由nsf资助的研讨会将把该领域的科学家聚集在一起，找出阻碍该领域发展的问题，并为这些问题制定可行的解决方案。研讨会的总体目标是将社区利益相关者、创新者和领导者聚集在一起，确定将新技术和创新方法纳入这一关键研究领域的方法。此外，研讨会旨在确定该领域提供更多意义的机会，建立在发育生物学产生的大量知识基础上，并对社会产生积极影响。美国发育生物学研究人员的意见将在全国范围内收集，然后公开传播研讨会的建议。多年来，发育生物学社区的身份危机造成了发现和机会的不平等。具体来说，那些能够获得大量资金和基础设施的科学家能够提出技术上先进的问题，但却偏离了该领域的传统原则。那些获得资源较少或专注于传统发育生物学问题的人在产生大数据的竞赛中被落在了后面。这次会议/研讨会将把该领域的科学家聚集在一起，找出阻碍该领域发展的问题，并确定可行的解决方案。为期2.5天的活动包括演讲和小组讨论，重点是定义和讨论1)发育生物学的新技术，2)发育生物学的基础/传统方法，3)当前的资助机会，以及4)建立发育生物学的跨学科团队。参与者将成为来自多个发育生物学相关学科的科学家的“智囊团”。研讨会的智力价值在于，智库将1)确定该领域中阻碍创新和有影响力的发现的具体问题，2)确定减缓发育生物学进展的问题的切实解决方案。预期的成果将是发表在开放获取期刊上的白皮书，详细说明发育生物学社区的需求、资助设备的漏洞、跨学科创新合作的框架、教学建议和创造性的解决方案，以创造资源的公平性和整个社区的最大影响。关于研讨会的广泛影响，来自多个机构和不同职业阶段、不同背景和生活经历的研究植物和动物模型的研究人员将聚集在一起，综合思想，为发育生物学领域创造跨学科的机会。与会者还将确定资金缺口、跨学科合作途径，并将从利益攸关方那里收集意见，以指导社区建设一个更加包容、公平和创新的地方。研讨会结束后，更广泛的发育生物学社区将通过公开开放的调查提供他们的意见。发现的问题和提出的解决方案将通过同行评议的观点论文和社论在知名期刊和社交媒体上传播给更广泛的社区。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Developmental biology research focuses on studying how living organisms are formed and change across time, space, and scale. The questions asked in the field are crucial to understanding life and the mechanisms that drive it. Despite this importance, the field is in danger of being left behind if it is unable to incorporate more innovative and technologically advanced approaches. Conversely, those that use these approaches have not necessarily been trained in fundamental developmental biology concepts and findings. These issues exist in both animal and plant model systems and are reflected as decreased impactful publications, buy-in with students and support from funding institutions. As such, the field is in danger of becoming less relevant compared to related fields like stem cell research, bioengineering, and systems and synthetic biology. This NSF-funded workshop will bring scientists in the field together to identify problems holding the field back and define actionable solutions to these problems. The overall goal of the workshop is to bring community stakeholders, innovators, and leaders together to identify ways to incorporate new technologies and innovative approaches into this crucial field of research. Further, the workshop aims to define opportunities for the field to provide more significance, build upon the vast knowledge generated by developmental biology and positively impact society. The opinions of American developmental biology researchers nationally will be collected and then workshop recommendations publicly disseminated.An identity crisis in the developmental biology community has developed over many years creating inequity in discovery and opportunity. Specifically, scientists who have access to significant funding and infrastructure are able to ask technologically advanced questions, but have strayed from the traditional tenets of the field. Those who have less access to resources or who focus on traditional developmental biology questions are being left behind in the race to generate big data. This conference/workshop will bring scientists in the field together to identify problems holding the field back and define actionable solutions. The 2.5-day event includes presentations and small group discussions with a focus on defining and discussing 1) New Technology in Developmental Biology, 2) Foundational/Traditional Approaches in Developmental Biology, 3) Current Funding Opportunities, and 4) Creating Interdisciplinary Teams in Developmental Biology. Participants will become a “think tank” of scientists from multiple developmental biology-related disciplines. The intellectual merit of the workshop is that the think tank will 1) identify specific problems in the field that have inhibited innovation and impactful discoveries and will 2) define tangible solutions to the problems in slowing the progress in developmental biology. The expected products will be white papers published in open access journals that detail developmental biology community needs, holes in funding apparatuses, frameworks for interdisciplinary innovative collaborations, pedagogical recommendations and creative solutions to create equity of resources and maximum impact across the community. With regards to the broader impacts of the workshop, researchers across multiple institutions and career stages with diverse backgrounds and life experiences, and who study plant and animal models, will come together to synthesize ideas that will create interdisciplinary opportunities in the field of developmental biology. The participants will also identify gaps in funding, paths to interdisciplinary collaborations, and will gather ideas from the stakeholders that will guide the community to a more inclusive, equitable, and innovative place. After the workshop, the broader developmental biology community will provide their input via a public open-access survey. Perceived problems and proposed solutions will be disseminated to the wider community via peer-reviewed perspective papers and editorials in established journals and in social media.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.