Keynote Speakers:

Deneen Wellik, PhD

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Dr. Wellik’s laboratory focuses on the role of Hox genes in development, disease, repair and regeneration using mouse as a model organism. The expression and function of Hox genes is highly conserved throughout evolution where these genes play critical roles in many aspects of developmental patterning and organogenesis.

In addition to roles in embryonic development, more recent work in her laboratory reveals Hox-expressing cells are retained in many tissues and organs through postnatal and life as mesenchymal stem/precursor cells that remain important for maintenance and repair of organs and tissues. Utilizing mainly mouse developmental genetics, Dr. Wellik’s laboratory explores the function of these genes in development, regeneration and repair, and in response to disease.

They are currently actively exploring the musculoskeletal system and the lung as model organ systems for Hox function. Their long-term goal is to understand mechanisms by which Hox genes direct development, repair and regeneration in mammals and to elucidate how this information can be used to improve potential regenerative therapies.

Research in the Wells lab aims to uncover the molecular and cellular mechanisms by which gastrointestinal and endocrine organs form in the developing embryo. The Wells lab uses current base understanding in attempts to improve child health in the following ways:
1) Embryonic development of endoderm organs: Identifying the pathways that regulate organ development to uncover the genetic and environmental factors that cause deranged organ development with a focus on causes of diabetes and digestive diseases.
2) Generating human tissues from pluripotent stem cells: Through manipulation of pathways that control embryonic organ formation, they can direct the differentiation of pluripotent stem cells into human organ tissues called organoids used to study human organ development and disease.
3) Organ function and dysfunction: Diabetes and digestive diseases. Using a combination of animal models and human tissue organoid models, they study how cells and tissues control endocrine and gastrointestinal functions.
The long-term goal is to generate healthy, therapeutic replacement tissues for children with diabetes and digestive diseases. The Wells lab has active collaborations with surgeons, gastroenterologists and endocrinologists driving this translational objective.

Plant cells manage and coordinate gene expression to communicate information throughout the plant for the regulation of development and responses to external stresses.

Dr. Cox’s research group uses spatial and single-cell genomics, imaging, and molecular biology to uncover the spatial organization of genes in plants, with a core objective of unraveling the communication mechanisms within plant cells. Their goal is to create a detailed “map” that pinpoints where genes are located to understand how they are regulated across plant organs and tissues. Their research encompasses two fundamental areas of biology to achieve this goal:

1. Plant-microbe interactions: seeking to uncover the gene networks plant cells use to defend themselves against pathogens and recruit beneficial microbes.

2. Duckweed Biology: In this small aquatic plant, they seek to decode the spatial gene arrangement and understand its rapid growth and reproduction mechanisms. This could have broader implications in developing crops that are more efficient in growth.

Dr. Cunningham collaborates with faculty, students, and staff in the development of innovative, inclusive, and dynamic learning experiences. She is especially interested in discussing the ethical integration of generative AI and other innovative technologies in teaching and learning, inclusive and accessible course design, online-specific instructional design, and fostering a sense of psychological safety and belonging in educational spaces.

Her teaching portfolio spans biology and interdisciplinary STEM courses across community colleges, regional universities, and R1 institutions. She leads research projects focused on enhancing equity and belongingness in STEM, including NSF-funded STEM education grants focused on building institutional capacity for inclusive teaching, experiential learning, and workforce-based education.

With over a decade of experience in higher education and a unique blend of expertise in biology, STEM education, instructional design, and educational leadership, she enjoys partnering with faculty and students to tackle pedagogical challenges creatively and collaboratively.

Geometry and mechanics often provide a powerful lens for understanding the mechanisms governing material behavior. This perspective extends to biological systems, opening a window into the mechanisms of tissue shape change during embryonic development. In development, organ geometry and tissue mechanics interact with genetic patterning. Dr. Mitchell’s lab address the dynamic and mechanical processes by which biology sculpts complex organ shapes, unraveling the collective cell behaviors and tissue layer interactions that link genes to geometry. Across a broad class of organs including the gut and heart, sheets of nascent muscle cells ensheath underlying epithelial layers to collaboratively guide morphogenesis. They aim to quantitatively decode the supracellular mechanical activity composing these organs’ shape change. This effort invokes advanced microscopy techniques for whole-organ live imaging, genetic & optogenetic perturbations, computational image analysis, differential geometry, and analytic approaches from physics. The Mitchell lab leverages the Drosophila and zebrafish embryos as living laboratories. 

Dr. Wolverton's researches how plants integrate signals such as light, touch, and gravity to influence growth and development.

His lab uses a combination of mutants, transgenic approaches, and reporter gene studies along with a custom hardware and software system combining real-time image analysis with motor control to study the dynamics of sensory output and growth regulation. 

He is currently funded by NASA for spaceflight experiments investigating the threshold for plant gravity perception and to characterize the cellular systems that transduce the gravity signal into cellular information.