See you at the conference.
Funding Statement
Funding for this conference was made possible (in part) by Grant 1 R13 HD084156-01 from the
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
The views expressed in written conference materials or publications and by speakers and
moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human
Services; nor does mention by trade names, commercial practices or organizations imply
endorsement by the U.S. Government.
Poster Specifications
Posters can be designed in Powerpoint: In Page Setup, set the size you would like your poster to be. For example, 42" x 60" or 36" x 54". Typical font size for the poster title at this scale would be around 90, with poster text around 24.
Posters can also be designed in Adobe Illustrator: Set the poster up (when you create the document) to scale (36 or 42 inches tall by less than 60 inches long).
Message re: Abstract Deadline
Dear Neural Tube Defect Research Community,
I want to thank those of you who have managed to meet one of our three abstract deadlines and submitted your abstract and registered for the conference. Now for the remaining 50% of you (and you know who you are), it is time to get serious. We cannot put the Program together because we want to include your work (again, you know who you are) but we cannot if we cannot review your abstracts. And on a personal note, I am financially liable to the tune of $100,000 if we don’t make our room commitment with the ATT Center. While I am expecting a modest raise on September 1st, it is unlikely to cover this bill. So PLEASE REGISTER, PLEASE GET A ROOM, PLEASE SEND ME YOUR ABSTRACTS! We will continue to accept registrations up until the meeting or space available. We will accept abstracts until September 10th, although your chance of getting a platform presentation decreases with the passing of time.
We look forward to seeing y’all in Texas.
Rick, Laura, Philip and John
Second Call for Abstracts
Abstract submission is now open for the 9th International Conference on Neural Tube Defects to be held in Austin, Texas, October 26-29, 2015.
Abstracts must be emailed as a WORD document to ntd2015@utlists.utexas.edu by Sunday, August 30th.
This year’s agenda will focus on:
- Environmental Determinants of NTDs
- Genetics and Development Biology
- Emerging Technologies (e.g., genomics, metabolomics, imaging)
Submission Guidelines can be found under the NTD 2015 tab.
Conference Registration is Now Open
Complete the online registration form and then proceed to payments. The link will pop up after registration has been completed to navigate to the online store that accepts credit cards. If a different payment method is selected, a conference organizer will follow-up with instructions via email.
Here is the link as well: TxShop. When completing the form, indicate a quantity of 1 in the first box and then add the number of participants in the categories below. Registration fees can be paid for multiple participants, but ensure that a registration form is completed for each individual participant.
Questions? Send an email to satterbe@austin.utexas.edu.
The first day of the NTD conference will start at 5 pm - 7 pm on 10/26/15.
Hotel Reservation Website is Available
Online hotel reservations are now available online for the NTD Conference via the following link:
Click here for Hotel Reservations. The reservation code is NTDCON1015. September 28, 2015 is the cut-off date.
If you prefer the option of phone reservations, please use the following dedicated Group Reservations phone numbers in order to make sure to access special block rates and you book within the block.
Reservations Toll Free: 877-744-8822
Reservations Local Phone: 512-404-3600
First Call for Abstracts
Abstract submission is now open for the 9th International Conference on Neural Tube Defects to be held in Austin, Texas, October 26-29, 2015.
Abstracts must be emailed as a WORD document to ntd2015@utlists.utexas.edu by Sunday, August 30th.
This year’s agenda will focus on:
- Environmental Determinants of NTDs
- Genetics and Development Biology
- Emerging Technologies (e.g., genomics, metabolomics, imaging)
Submission Guidelines can be found under the NTD 2015 tab.
Save the Date!
The dates have been confirmed for the 9th Annual Conference on Neural Tube Defects. The 2015 conference will be held October 26-29 in Austin, Texas.
More information will follow soon...
2013 Winners of the Marcy C. Speer Memorial Award for Best Student Paper
Marcy C. Speer
Memorial Award
Congratulations to the 2013 winners of the Marcy C. Speer Memorial Award, Dr. Ran Blekhman and Ms. Juliette R. Petersen.
Dr. Finnell with Dr. Blekhman
2013 Post-Doctoral Winner
University of Minnesota
“Using Deep Whole-Genome Sequencing to Understand the Role of Non-Coding Genetic Variation in Complex Developmental Disease”
Dr. Finnell with Ms. Petersen
2013 Pre-Doctoral Winner
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
University of Colorado Denver
“Towards an Understanding of the Role of Folic Acid in Neural Tube Closure”
Transportation
Hi all!
We are looking forward to seeing everyone next week for the 2013 Conference on Neural Tube Defects.
Transportation options from Austin Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA) to The AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center:
- Capital Metro Bus Route 100 (aka the Airport Flyer) costs $1/trip and leaves about every 30 minutes. It will take you to a central location on campus (the Trinity and 18th stop). You can walk to the ATT Center in 15 minutes or less.
- Taxi service from ABIA is roughly 27$ (up to 4 persons) each way. Taxis are queued at the airport on the lower level.
- SuperShuttle is a 3rd party shuttle service from ABIA. The charge is per person (16$). No reservation from the airport is required, however, one is required on the return trip from the hotel.
- Sedan services are available through private contractors as well.
More information on ground transportation can be found here.
The weather should be lovely for the conference with clear skies and temperatures in the high 80s(F)/20s(C) during the day and cooler in the evenings.
Registration is now open!
Registration is now available online for the conference! Registration information can be found under the NTD 2013 tab on this site.
Registration fees include:
- Complete Abstract Booklet
- Welcome Reception on Monday evening, October 7th, 2013
- Breakfast, Lunch, & Coffee Breaks, Tuesday, October 8th-Thursday, October 10th, 2013
- Barbecue Dinner in the Texas Hill Country on Tuesday evening, October 8th, 2013
(includes shuttle bus transportation) - Poster Session and Reception on Wednesday evening, October 9th, 2013
Image courtesy of Austin Convention and Visitor's Bureau.
Please note that there are two links on the registration page. If you are a Postdoctoral Fellow or PhD Candidate, please complete the trainee registration for the conference.
If you have any dietary restrictions, food allergies, or special meal requirements, please email them to <ntd2013@austin.utexas.edu> once your registration is completed.
See you in October!
Financial Support and Registration Updates
Several of you have asked about potential financial support for your pre- and post-doctoral trainees. Just as we did in 2011, trainee registration will be substantially discounted ($150) in comparison with the general registration fee of $325. Registration is slated to begin in early June, at which time another email will be sent.
In addition, we usually try to gather up as much financial support as possible and use that to pay for trainee lodging and any short fall in conference fees caused by the reduced registration. Many of the conference grants and funding mechanisms we use for this do not become available until just before the conference. This means that it is a good idea to prebook travel now. At the last conference, we were able to cover the hotel rooms for all 46 trainees that were in attendance. We hope to be able to do the same this year.
If you have trainees that need financial support, please email their names and status (Pre- or Post-doctoral) to NTD 2013 <ntd2013@austin.utexas.edu>.
Image courtesy of the Austin Convention and Visitor's Bureau http://www.austintexas.org/
Second Call for Abstracts
The selection committee is still accepting abstracts for the 2013 Conference on Neural Tube Defects for one more month.
The deadline for submissions will be Friday, May 31st.
The abstract template along with the submission guidelines can be found here.
Abstracts can be emailed to NTD 2013 <ntd2013@austin.utexas.edu>.
See you in October!
Image courtesy of the Austin Convention and Visitor's Bureau http://www.austintexas.org/
Important Information about Lodging
Abstracts are starting to roll in and this year's conference is sure to be well attended. Registration for the conference will begin this summer, but we want to suggest that you make your lodging reservations as soon as possible.
The conference is scheduled between the two weekends of the Austin City Limits Music Festival, which means that it will be a very exciting time to be in Austin. Unfortunately, it also means that there will be lots of out-of-town visitors and that hotel reservations will fill up rather quickly.
Photo courtesy of the Austin Convention & Visitor's Bureau
There is a block of rooms at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center where the conference is being held and they are currently accepting hotel reservations for the 2013 conference. Through the website you can book, modify or cancel your hotel reservations at any time and receive updated information about the event.
There are also number of Hotels, inns, and B&Bs in the vicinity of the conference center, which I have included on the Google map that can be found on the maps page.
First Call for Abstracts
The selection committee is now accepting abstracts for the 2013 Conference on Neural Tube Defects.
Abstracts should be no more than one page in length (single-spaced in 11-pt font or larger) and should contain the following information:
- Title
- Author(s)
- Affiliation(s)
- Contact information for the corresponding author, including email address
Also include the category that best describes the subject of your proposed abstract:
- Pre-doctoral Trainee Presentation
- Post-doctoral Trainee Presentation
- Epigenetic Mechanisms
- Environmental Risk Factors
- Folate and Other Nutrients
- Genetics
- Embryology and Development
- Emerging Technologies and New Approaches
- Classification
- Clinical
Please do not include graphics or references as part of your submission. They will be deleted from the abstract booklet.
Abstracts can be emailed to NTD 2013 <ntd2013@austin.utexas.edu>
Save the Date
Mark your calendars for October 7th–10th, 2013!
These dates are confirmed for the 8th International Conference on Neural Tube Defects to be held in Austin<http://www.austintexas.org/> in the heart of the beautiful Texas Hill Country.
The conference will begin with a welcome reception on the evening of Monday, October 7th, 2013, followed by three full days (October 8th–10th) of valuable presentations, information, and opportunities for collaboration. The conference will include oral as well as poster presentations, so start planning your abstracts now.
A block of rooms will soon be available at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center <http://www.meetattexas.com/> at a rate of $174.00/night.
Additional rooms will also be available at the Hampton Inn and Suites <http://www.hamptoninnaustintx.com/>, which was just completed in 2012 and is located only 2 blocks from the Conference Center.
We look forward to seeing you all in October.