Evolutionary Medicine Summer Institute

The Triangle Center for Evolutionary Medicine (TriCEM) invites students, postdocs, faculty, public health practitioners, physicians, and veterinarians to the annual Evolutionary Medicine Summer Institute (EMSI) at North Carolina State University from May 17th to May 22, 2020, organized by Brian Wiegmann (NCSU), Charles Nunn (Duke University) and Meredith Spence Beaulieu (Duke University).

EMSI will bring together internationally recognized experts in evolutionary biology with students and health practitioners who want to apply these perspectives to cancer, infectious disease, evolution of microbial resistance, neurology, autoimmune disease, the microbiome, and more. Mornings will feature lectures and exercises that are designed to instill an understanding of the core concepts in evolutionary medicine. In the afternoons, we will break into subgroups for training on specific evolutionary methods, including phylogenetics, molecular evolution, and evolutionary epidemiology, including introductions to key computational approaches. We will periodically regroup to share these findings across fields, and to promote a deeper understanding of the material and concepts through explanation to those in other disciplines. The evenings will include short talks by local experts on topics in evolutionary medicine, and time for further discussions and networking.

The Summer Institute offers a unique opportunity to learn foundational principles and gain hands on experience with evolutionary methods that are applicable to specific health challenges. In addition to this training, we offer the opportunity to network and build collaborations for scientists and practitioners across disciplines. To facilitate networking, teams will form to initiate short papers that present evolutionary perspectives on specific diseases, which will be submitted as “Clinical Briefs” to the journal Evolution, Medicine and Public Health, potentially resulting in a short publication for interested participants.

Registration for EMSI is $325 without housing and $525 with housing. Please direct questions to Meredith Spence Beaulieu (meredith.spence.beaulieu@duke.edu) or Courtni France (cnf12@duke.edu).

You can apply at https://sites.duke.edu/emsi/what-is-emsi/ Applications are due March 20, 2020.