Tau Consortium Investigators Meeting – one day with the stars
The Rainwater Charitable Foundation (Tau Consortium) provided WIA with 10 fellowships to participate in their Tau Consortium Investigators meeting, where leading researchers in the field of neurodegeneration presented their most exciting findings. These new WIA Fellowships aroused huge interest among WIA members across the globe. Applicants were selected by an evaluation committee based on a personal statement and publication list to illustrate interest in tauopathies and neurodegeneration as well as consideration of underrepresented countries of origin/residence in science. Of our ten fellows, three were PhD students and seven were postdoctoral fellows. Fellows were based out of the US, UK, Italy, Sweden, India, Australia, and Argentina.
Participants overwhelmingly agreed that this was an incredibly valuable experience, even when their initial motivation was very wide: some participants were already working in tauopathies or newcomers in the field, which was a clear strong motivation to apply to WIA’s Fellowship, as the Tau Consortium is a renowned entity in the field. “It was a fantastic opportunity to hear the cutting-edge research presented by world-leading experts in the field during the conference. It really inspired me and gave me ideas for new directions on my own research projects. I am very grateful,” remarked one participant, echoing the opinions of many others. Also, the networking opportunity that this meeting offered was very attractive motive for the participants. The online format encouraged many of them as the in-person format would not be possible in the current Covid-19 pandemic, and some could not afford the trip even pre-pandemic, as they are from low-income countries or very far from US.
Career-wise, they all share that it was a fantastic opportunity to hear the cutting-edge research presented by world-leading experts in the field during the conference. The participants learned the most recent techniques and models to study tauopathies, which will be translated into new ideas for their own projects. The meeting fostered their passion to understand this disease. “Besides learning from [the speakers], they inspired me. Events like this open your mind. They make you re-evaluate your project to see how you can improve it or expand it to other lines of research”.
The WIA’s fellows congratulate the organization and the program. They loved the plenary talks about techniques that could be used in several research areas. Furthermore, the short presentations were very appreciated as they kept a nice meeting dynamic. They also underlined the panel sessions “Drug Discovery” and “Diversity of science”, mentioning that “it is necessary to give awareness about this issue to start narrowing the inequality gap in science.” The discussions and the Q&A were highly valued, and the networking opportunities were furthered by direct email exchanges.
The participants remark the Tau Consortium meeting was a very friendly conference, the ambient was relaxed and the camaraderie between investigators was obvious, which is a unique feature of this event.
Our WIA fellows felt very rewarded and grateful to attend the Tau Consortium meeting. They agree this was a great opportunity and are hopeful it can be repeated in future years for more WIA fellows. We are incredibly grateful to the Rainwater Charitable Foundation for extending this opportunity to our members.
Women In Autophagy,
Communications & Fundraising Committees: Mericka McCabe, Laura Cervera, Marina Garcia and Ana Rosa Saez
