Tentative Program for the 2025 CTC

Based on previous years, the CTC meeting is expected to have the following lecture session topics, each of roughly 1.5 hours. However, the topics are adapted to an extent based on the abstracts received each year. If you would like to submit a talk abstract but your topic of research does not fit into one of these preliminary categories, it will still be considered when we finalize the program. Sessions will be held in series, so a single attendee can participate in all talks. The program will be updated as keynote speakers are confirmed, and the final schedule will be determined in late summer.

Planned Sessions

Research and Result-Focused:

• Chemical Addiction: The genetic basis
• Preclinical Cancer Models: Development and testing
• Metabolic Diseases: Effects of genetic and environmental interactions on energy metabolism
• Brain and Behavior: Novel insights into the molecular and genetic basis of neurological disorders and diseases
• Holistic Approaches to Complex Traits: Whole-body communication via hormones, microbiome, and other signaling pathways
• Aging: Predictive biomarkers and molecular diagnostics

Method and Approach-Focused:

• Rat Genomes: Generation and expansion of genetic diversity into rat studies
• Database Resources: Integrating genomes and phenomes across populations
• Statistical Methods: New and refined approaches to biomarker discovery, target selection, and network models
• Bioinformatics Software: Recent developments in tools for studying the genetic and molecular basis of complex traits
• Multi-Omics: Understanding complex traits via combined gene expression and metabolite networks

Additionally, we are currently planning four workshops, each of about two hours.

Planned Workshops

• Long-term Behavioral Monitoring: Continuous analysis with new equipment designs & analytical approaches
• Pangenome Analysis and Taking Advantage of AI in Complex Trait Genetics
• Incorporating Genetic Variance in Mouse Studies: Using the Diversity Outbred Cohort
• Career Workshop