Virtual Symposium: Maternal-to-Zygotic Transition
Join us for our sixth season of a virtual symposium about the Maternal-to-Zygotic Transition (MZT) (previously called the 'Genome Activation Symposium')! The goal of the symposium is to provide researchers with a platform to share their latest work in MZT. This will help reinforce and build connections in our field, and our hope is that the virtual format will allow scientists from around the world to participate. The symposium is free of charge. Each session will last 1.5 hours and will feature several short presentations from faculty and trainees.

Registration is required.

Zoom Registration Link (2026-2027)

Next Session
October 8, 2026 (Thursday) - 11:00 am Eastern Standard Time (US)

Haejeong Lee | Lab of Antonio Giraldez
Yale School of Medicine, USA
Beyond codon optimality: codon and amino acid pairs regulate mRNA stability during early embryo development

Goncalo Fernandes | Lab of Chris Rushlow
New York University, USA
Regulation of a CNS-specific Zelda isoform

Hui Chen
University of South Carolina, USA
Early Embryonic Shape Directly Regulates Development

Symposium Schedule, 2026-2027

Thursday, October 8, 2026 - 11:00 am Eastern Standard Time (US)
Thursday, November 12, 2026 - 11:00 am Eastern Standard Time (US)
Thursday, January 14, 2027 - 11:00 am Eastern Standard Time (US)
Thursday, February 11, 2027 - 11:00 am Eastern Standard Time (US)
Thursday, March 11, 2027 - 11:00 am Eastern Standard Time (US)
Thursday, April 8, 2027 - 11:00 am Eastern Standard Time (US)
Thursday, May 13, 2027 - 11:00 am Eastern Standard Time (US)

2026-2027 Speaker List

Christof Gebhardt
Eliana Torres Zelada (Melissa Harrison Lab)
Francesco Cardamone (Nicola Iovino Lab)
Goncalo Fernandes (Chris Rushlow Lab)
Gopalakrishnan Chandrasekaran (Heidi Cook-Andersen Lab)
Grace Carey (Amanda Amodeo Lab)
Haejeong Lee (Antonio Giraldez Lab)
Hui Chen
Howard Lipshitz
Mariia Bazarevich (Daria Onichtchouk Lab)
Martin Wühr
Mary Goll
Mazal Tawil (Michal Rabani Lab)
Michael Welte
Michelle Percharde
Shihui Chen (Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz Lab)
Sonja Nykänen (Sanna Vuoristo Lab)

Please contact the organizers if you are interested in speaking during the 2026-2027 season!
We have a few speaker slots open for April and May.

Previous Seasons

Symposium Organizers

Antonio Giraldez | Giraldez Lab
Professor, Department of Genetics
Yale University School of Medicine

Melissa Harrison | Harrison Lab
Professor, Department of Biomolecular Chemistry
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health

Caroline Hoppe and Mina Kojima
Postdocs, Laboratory of Antonio Giraldez

Haley Brown
Postdoc, Laboratory of Melissa Harrison

Fiona Sievers
PhD student, Laboratory of Antonio Giraldez