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Events
14th Annual UCI Neuromuscular Colloquium
Date: Friday, May 29, 2026
Location: Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort & Spa, 21500 Pacific Coast HWY, Huntington Beach, CA 92648
About the Event: This colloquium is designed to encourage an atmosphere of collaboration and interaction between the various neuromuscular specialists. It is a forum to discuss the latest topics and advances in neuromuscular medicine and review interesting and challenging cases, with several live patient presentations. Such activities are aimed to improve patient care by promoting closer research collaboration and the development of new research projects.
MBDRC MyoSEMINAR
Speaker: Foteini (Faye) Mourkioti, PhD
Affiliation: University of Pennsylvania
Position: Associate Professor, Cell & Developmental Biology and Orthopaedic Surgery
Date: Tuesday, May 26, 2026 | Time: 4:00 PM
Location: Gross Hall Thorp Conference Room
Seminar: TBA
MAXIMUS T32 Retreat
Date: Thursday, April 9, 2026
Location: Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building
419 Physical Sciences Quad, Irvine, CA 92697About the Event: Second Annual MAXIMUS T32 Retreat featuring leaders in the muscle field, presentations from select UCI trainees, and poster session
MBDRC MyoSEMINAR
Speaker: Selma Masri, PhD
Affiliation: University of California, Irvine
Position: Associate Professor, Biological Chemistry
Date: Tuesday, March 24, 2026 | Time: 4:00 PM
Location: Gross Hall Thorp Conference Room
Seminar: Circadian Clock Interplay in Cancer Cachexia
MBDRC MyoSEMINAR
Speaker: Albert Almada, PhD
Affiliation: Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California
Position: Assistant Professor, Orthopaedic Surgery & Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine
Date: Wednesday, February 25, 2026 | Time: 11:00 AM
Location: TBA
Seminar: TBA
MBDRC MyoSEMINAR
Date: Tuesday, January 27, 2026 | Time: 4:00 PM
Location: Gross Hall Thorp Conference Room
Seminar: TBA
Speaker: Armando Villalta, PhD
Affiliation: Physiology & Biophysics, University of California, Irvine
MBDRC MyoSEMINAR
Date: Thursday, December 11, 2025 | Time: 1:00 PM
Location: Plumwood Lecture Hall
Seminar: Universal hiPSC Skeletal Muscle Cell Therapy for Localized Atrophic Muscles after Chemoradiation in Sarcomas
Speaker: Michael Hicks, PhD
Affiliation: Physiology & Biophysics, University of California, Irvine
T32 Research in Progress Seminar
Date: Wednesday, December 10, 2025 | Time: 3:00 PM
Location: Gross Hall 2005
Seminar: Investigating Transcriptional and Regulatory Diversity in Extraocular Muscle Attachments
Presenter: Cameron Miller
T32 Research in Progress Seminar
Date: Wednesday, December 3, 2025 | Time: 3:00 PM
Location: Gross Hall 2005
Seminar: Toward Understanding the Mechanism of Sarcomere Gene Repression in Spinal and Bulbar Muscular Atrophy
Presenter: Anastasia Gromova, PhD
Myo Ed Journal Club
Date: Tuesday, November 25, 2025 | Time: 3:00 PM
Location: Gross Hall 2005
Topics in Muscle: Increased METTL3 Expression and m6A Methylation in Myoblasts of Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy
Presenter: Negar Mojgani
Myo Ed Journal Club
Date: Wednesday, November 19, 2025 | Time: 3:00 PM
Location: Gross Hall 2005
Topics in Muscle: NAD depletion in skeletal muscle does not compromise muscle function or accelerate aging
Presenter: David Luong
Myo Ed Journal Club
Date: Wednesday, November 12, 2025 | Time: 3:00 PM
Location: Gross Hall 2005
Topics in Muscle: Single-nuclei sequencing of skeletal muscle reveals subsynaptic-specific transcripts involved in neuromuscular junction maintenance
Presenter: Nate Addonizio
Myo Ed Journal Club
Date: Wednesday, November 5, 2025 | Time: 3:00 PM
Location: Gross Hall 2005
Topics in Muscle: Depletion of SAM leading to loss of heterochromatin drives muscle stem cell ageing
Presenter: Melissa Campos
Myo Ed Journal Club
Date: Wednesday, October 29, 2025 | Time: 3:00 PM
Location: Gross Hall 2005
Topics in Muscle: Cell type mapping of inflammatory muscle diseases highlights selective myofiber vulnerability in inclusion body myositis
Presenter: Apoorva Nagendra
MBDRC MyoSEMINAR
Speaker: Michela Libergoli, PhD
Affiliation: University of Southern California
Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Almada Lab
Date: Thursday, October 23, 2025 | Time: 1:00 PM
Location: Plumwood Lecture Hall
Seminar: Balancing Quiescence and Activation in Muscle Stem Cells
Myo Ed Journal Club
Date: Wednesday, October 22, 2025 | Time: 3:00 PM
Location: Gross Hall 2005
Topics in Muscle: Fibre type differences in the organisation of mononuclear cells and myonuclei at the tips of human myofibres
Presenter: Cameron Miller
Myo Ed Journal Club
Date: Wednesday, October 15, 2025 | Time: 3:00 PM
Location: Gross Hall 2005
Topics in Muscle: Long-Term Dystrophin Replacement Therapy in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Causes Cardiac Inflammation
Presenter: Abbey Keegan
Myo Ed Journal Club
Date: Wednesday, October 8, 2025 | Time: 3:00 PM
Location: Gross Hall 2005
Topics in Muscle: The androgen receptor in mesenchymal progenitors regulates skeletal muscle mass via Igf1 expression in male mice
Presenter: Anastasia Gromova, PhD
Science Day at UC Irvine
Outreach Event: This event for the community is for ages 5-18. Young scientists can sign up for a 2-hour session to cover hands-on activities. Exhibits will include extraction of DNA from strawberries, learning about polar and non-polar interactions, measuring the pH of various household goods, and a tour of the Stem Cell Research Center.
Sponsor: Medical, Educational, Missions, & Outreach Organization
Date: Saturday, October 4, 2025 | Time: 10 AM to 4 PM
Location: 843 Health Sciences Road, Irvine, CA 92697
Myo Ed Journal Club
Date: Wednesday, October 1, 2025 | Time: 3:30 PM
Location: Gross Hall 2005
Topics in Muscle: MAXIMUS T32 Training Grant Aims
Presenters: Anastasia Gromova, PhD, Cameron Miller, Abbey Keegan, and Melissa Campos
Conferences
New Directions in Biology and Disease of Skeletal Muscle Conference
Date: June 7-10, 2026
Location: Ft. Lauderdale, FL
About the Event: This conference is well suited for informal interactions and the presentation of data that might be too preliminary for a larger audience. Overall, the goal is to facilitate advances in skeletal muscle biology through discussions that promote new ideas, research lines, and collaborations. The meeting will include a grant writing workshop oriented toward trainees and new investigators with focus on NIH grants as well as poster sessions; posters will be on display during the entire conference.
Muscular Dystrophy Association Clinical & Scientific Conference
Date: March 8-11, 2026
Location: Hilton Orlando, Orlando, FL
About the Event: The MDA Clinical & Scientific Conference stands as the preeminent global event, featuring a hybrid format that enables participants to join either in person or virtually. This conference unites renowned researchers, clinicians, academics, advocates, and industry pioneers, facilitating discussions and discoveries in the ever-evolving field of neuromuscular disease (NMD).