Conference: Envisioning Developmental Biology For the Future

发育生物学研究的重点是研究生命有机体是如何形成的，以及如何在时间、空间和尺度上发生变化。在这个领域提出的问题对于理解生命和驱动生命的机制至关重要。尽管有这种重要性，但如果该领域不能采用更多创新和技术先进的方法，它就有被甩在后面的危险。相反，那些使用这些方法的人不一定接受过基本发育生物学概念和发现的培训。这些问题在动物和植物模型系统中都存在，并反映为影响力减少的出版物、学生的支持和资助机构的支持。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，并为这些问题定义可行的解决方案。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，以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，讲习班旨在为该领域提供更多意义的机会，以发展生物学产生的广泛知识为基础，并对社会产生积极影响。将收集美国全国发育生物学研究人员的意见，然后公开发布研讨会建议。多年来，发育生物学社区的认同危机已经发展起来，造成了发现和机会方面的不平等。具体地说，能够获得大量资金和基础设施的科学家能够提出技术先进的问题，但他们偏离了该领域的传统原则。那些获得资源的机会较少或专注于传统发育生物学问题的人，在生成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)发育生物学中的新技术，2)发育生物学中的基础/传统方法，3)当前的资助机会，以及4)创建发育生物学中的跨学科团队。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”。研讨会的学术价值在于，智囊团将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)为减缓发育生物学进展的问题确定切实的解决方案。预期的产品将是发表在开放获取期刊上的白皮书，其中详细说明了发育生物学社区的需求、资助工具的漏洞、跨学科创新合作的框架、教学建议和创造性的解决方案，以创造资源的公平和对整个社区的最大影响。关于讲习班的更广泛影响，具有不同背景和生活经验的多个机构和职业阶段的研究人员将聚集在一起，研究植物和动物模型，综合将在发育生物学领域创造跨学科机会的想法。参与者还将确定资金缺口、跨学科合作的途径，并将从利益相关者那里收集想法，以引导社区走向更具包容性、更公平和更具创新性的地方。研讨会结束后，更广泛的发育生物学社区将通过公开的开放获取调查提供他们的意见。发现的问题和建议的解决方案将通过同行评议的观点论文和社论在现有期刊和社交媒体上传播给更广泛的社区。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.