Excretions & Secretions: The Necessary Messes

Buy your $5 tickets here! (meetup RSVPs are not counted)

Making a mess is one of the many defining features of the animal kingdom; whether slimy, smelly, or otherwise unpleasant. Join us for two talks that dive deeper into how the processes behind generating some of these unsavory substances are deliberate, intelligent, and an essential part of biology!

Doors open at 7:00PM. Event is 21+ with limited capacity.

Structure and composition of Lithobates catesbeianus mucus secretions sustains a web of life

Judah Kafui Cofie
PhD Student in the Department of Biochemistry at CUNY Advance Science Research Center

My name is Judah Cofie, I am from Ghana. I studied Biochemistry as an undergrad and molecular biology for my masters. I am a PhD student at CUNY at the biochemistry department. I am a member of the Braunschweig Lab at CUNY Advance Science Research Center and under the mentorship of Prof Adam Braunschweig I study animal mucus specifically looking how their composition and structure informs their functions and properties, offering guidelines for the development of mucus inspired synthetic mimetics.

My talk is about one of nature’s most mysterious and fascinating substances – the mucus of the invasive American Bullfrog. The question that this talk seeks to address is why are most amphibian populations experiencing a dramatic global decline, while the American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) continues to spread and survive across the globe? We believe at the center of this unique adaptation and ecological resilience is their mucus.

Mihir Pendse, PhD
Research Associate at FCB Health NY

Our intestine functions primarily as the body's waste disposal & sewage system. Over the last couple of decades, science has developed a greater understanding that the "waste disposal" capacity of the intestine is tightly regulated by many distinct cues. I did my Ph.D. at UT Southwestern Medical Center studying the ways our immune system controls how we poop. As a postdoctoral researcher at Memorial Sloan Kettering, I studied how inflammation during certain digestive diseases affects peristalsis.

During my talk, I will discuss insights into how our immune system is at the center of regulating excretion and about how our intestines are a lot smarter than we initially thought!

Located in the DeKalb Market, Somethin’ Else is the bar next to the Escape Room, across from the Jamaican spot. Grab a bite from the market and bring it on in! Doors open at 7:00pm, event start at 7:30pm. Arrive early to get your seats, grab a drink, and settle in for science talks, trivia, prizes, and fun.

Buy your $5 tickets here! (meetup RSVPs are not counted)