The 2nd Workshop on Codon Usage 

Function, mechanism and evolution

May 24-27, 2024 in Edinburgh, United Kingdom

About the Conference

Codon usage bias, the preference for certain synonymous codons, is a key factor in genome regulation. Patterns of codon usage are among the strongest known predictors of protein abundance, mRNA stability, transcription, mRNA localization and protein structures in genomes. Synonymous mutations have been shown to affect gene expression, protein structures, organismal fitness and human diseases. These results revealed codon usage as a new layer of genetic information that can impact diverse biological processes. After success of the first international conference on codon usage in Edinburgh in 2022, we decided to make this conference into a biennial series.  This conference will be the only international conference dedicated to understand the functions of codon usage, mechanisms of codon usage-mediated regulatory processes, and evolution of codon usage biases and genomes, with focuses on (1) mRNA metabolism; (2) translational regulation; (3) protein folding; (4) fitness and genome evolution; (5) new computational and experimental method development. Our goal is to bring together leaders, students and postdocs of diverse fields from academia and industry across the globe.


The conference will be in-person only and start with a welcome reception/registration event in the evening of May 24, 2024.

Please register below to attend the conference. For oral presentation requests and poster presentations, please submit an abstract (<250 words). Oral presentation requests must be done before March 25, 2024. Abstracts submitted after March 25 will be accepted as posters.  

Travel awards available for students/postdocs (see below for details).

Deadline for registration: March 25, 2024 (early). April 25 (late registration)

Our conference is a satellite conference of the RNA Society Meeting. If you are interested in attending both conferences, you should register separately for both.

Invited Speakers

Abigail Labella

UNC Charlotte, US

Alexander Palazzo

Univ Toronto, CA

Anders Lund

Univ Copenhagen, DK

Anton Komar

Cleveland State U. US

Ariel Bazzini

Stowers Inst. US

Craig Kaplan

U. Pittsburgh, US

Danny Nedialkova

Max Planck Biochemistry, DE

Deepa Agashe

NCBS, Bangalore, IN

Diego Oyarzun

U. Edinburgh, UK

Ed O'Brien

Penn State Univ, US

Eugene Shakhnovich

Harvard Univ. US

Grzegorz Kudla

U. Edinburgh, UK

Jian Lu

Peking Univ. CH

Jianzhi Zhang

U. Michigan, US

Laurent Duret 

CNRS Lyon, FR

Liana Lareau

UC Berkeley, US

Liang Huang

Oregon State Univ. US

Martine Collart

U. Geneva, Ch

Marina Rodnina 

Max Planck  Multidisciplinary Sciences, DE

Michal Linial

U. Jerusalem, IL

Patricia Clark

U. Notre Dame, US

Olivia Rissland

U. Colorado, US

Roland Beckmann

LMU Munich, DE

Tamir Tuller

Tel Aviv Univ, IL

Ya-Ming Hou

Thomas Jefferson U, US

Yi Liu

U. Texas Southwestern Medical Center, US

Yitzhak Pilpel

Weizmann Inst. IL

Zoya Ignatova

Univ. Hamburg, DE

Charlotte Koster

Wageningen University

Additional oral presentations will be selected from submitted abstracts.

The Venue

Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh

11 Queen Street,  Edinburgh EH2 1JQ

ACCOMMODATION

Accommodation is not included in the registration fee. Participants should book a hotel. Below are a few suggested hotels that are within working distance to the conference venue.

IBIS Styles Edinburgh St Andrew Square (19 St Andrew Square, Edinburgh EH2 1AU)

YOTEL Edinburgh (68–73 Queen Street, Edinburgh EH2 4NA)

Holiday Inn Express– City Centre (16–22 Picardy Place, Edinburgh EH1 3JT)

InterContinental Edinburgh The George (19–21 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 2PB)

Hotel Indigo Princes Street (20 Princes Street, Edinburgh EH2 2AN)

Courtyard Marriott Edinburgh (1–3 Baxter’s Place, Edinburgh EH1 3AF)

Cheval The Edinburgh Grand (42 St Andrew Square, Edinburgh EH2 2AD)

Let us know if you'll be attending!

Early Registration Fee (before March 25, 2024 UK time): 

Students/Postdocs (GBP 400),  Faculty/PI (GBP 500), Industry (GBP 800)


Late Registration Fee (from March 26-April 25, 2024). Registration will close on April 25, 2024.

Students/Postdocs (GBP 500),  Faculty/PI (GBP 600), Industry (GBP 900). 


A few travel awards will be available to students/postdoc based on financial need and contribution to the conference.  Priority will be given to those who will present their results in the meeting. To nominate, the mentor should send a brief nomination letter to the contact emails below after registration.


Registration includes:

Organizers

Yi Liu,  The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, US

Grzegorz Kudla, University of Edinburgh, UK

Yitzhak Pilpel, Weizmann Institute, IL

Patricia Clark, University of Notre Dame, US

Michal Linial, University of Jeruslaem, IL


Contact

Yi Liu: Yi.Liu@UTSouthwestern.edu

Grzegorz Kudla: gkudla@gmail.com 


Sponsors 

University of Edinburgh

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Weizmann Institute

RNA Society

United Kingdom Research and Innovation (grant EP/S02431X/1, UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training in Biomedical AI)