Write up about the Conference
The 2014 Gordon Research Conference on Marine Natural Products will highlight progressive research on the chemistry and biology of natural product chemicals from the marine environment. Featured topics will include advances in molecular characterization, biomedical applications, biotechnology, genomics, chemical ecology, molecular pharmacology, and chemical biology to reflect the ever-evolving breadth of this dynamic field. The conference will feature outstanding investigators from academia, industry and the government, and will provide opportunities for junior scientists and graduate students to present their work in poster format. Some poster presenters will be selected for short talks. One of the hallmarks of this biennial conference is its friendly and collegial atmosphere that facilitates the exchange of ideas with leaders in the field that often lead to cross-disciplinary collaborations. We look forward to your participation.
*Based on Marine Natural Products GRC website information
Feedback on paper presented
The paper presented is among the seminal discussions on the underappreciated biodiversity of benthic cyanobacteria and provides strong evidence on the linkage between chemodiversity and the phylogeny of marine cyanobacteria. Hence, the paper presented was very well received by junior and senior participants in the meeting. The paper also received commendation on the discovery of chemotaxonomic markers as an alternative to 16S rRNA for phylogenetic identification of marine cyanobacteria. Also, the audience was appreciative of the comprehensive research done on marine cyanobacteria- from biodiversity, chemodiversity and bioactivity assessment.
Future directions of research presented
This paper will be submitted for publication to the Journal of Natural Products and will also serve as the prototype for future work on assessment of the biodiversity of cyanobacteria from the Philippines
Potential foreign collaborators
Hendrik Luesch- Department of Medicinal Chemistry University of Florida
Valerie Paul and Niclas Engene- Smithsonian Marine Station
Margo Haygood- Oregon Health Sciences University
Other important contacts and insights
Ronald Quinn- Eskitis Research Institute
Tao Ye- Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Short write-up of one’s participation (to be used to feature/publicize the grantee’s participation in the conference)
Lilibeth A. Salvador-Reyes PhD, assistant professor at the Marine Science Institute was among the participants in the Marine Natural Products Gordon Research Conference held last March 2-7, 2014 in Ventura, Californa. Dr. Salvador-Reyes presented her research entitled “Targeted Natural Products Discoveries from Marine Cyanobacteria Using Combined Phylogenetic and Mass Spectrometric Evaluation”. She was also among the junior researchers who participated in the inaugural Marine Natural Products Gordon Research Seminar held from March 1-2, 2014.
