Variant Effects Seminar Series (VESS)

In this series, early-career scientists from around the globe share and discuss their research related to interpreting human genetic variation. Seminars are held on the 1st Tuesday each month from 9-10am Pacific (4-5pm UTC).

NEXT SEMINAR: June 2nd, 2026

9-10am Pacific timezone converter

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Previous Seminars

Upcoming Speakers

Disentangling the biophysical effect of missense variants using protein dark energy

Ezequiel A. Galpern (He/Him)

Dias & Frazer Lab (CRG, Barcelona)

Presentation Date: 2 June 2026

I'm a postdoctoral researcher at the Dias and Frazer lab at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona, where I work on disentangling the biophysical effects of missense variants. My background is in physics and biological chemistry — I did my PhD at the University of Buenos Aires studying protein folding thermodynamics and evolution. I'm broadly interested in connecting evolutionary and physical principles to understand how mutations reshape protein behavior.

Social: @eag91.bsky.social

Seminar series FAQ's

When is it?

1st Tuesday of each month (9am Pacific)
Start time is 9am Pacific (timezone converter)
We have members and presenters from around the globe (multiple time zones)
Our inaugural seminar was Tuesday, September 7th, 2021

Who presents?

Early career scientists: Students, postdocs, and new faculty (<1 year in position)

If you are interested in presenting or would like to recommend someone, please fill out this online SPEAKER NOMINATION FORM

What is the format?

One hour long virtual meetings (zoom)
Each month, two presenters discuss their work in 20-minute talks, followed by lively Q&A sessions.
Questions from the audience can be asked using chat or Q&A during the webinar
AVE members can also follow / continue conversations on our VESS AVE Slack Channel (#variant-effects-seminar-series)

Who can attend?

Our meetings are over Zoom and anyone is welcome to attend.
We use the webinar format, but participants can ask the speaker questions using the chat or Q&A

Do you need to be a member of AVE to attend?

Anyone can attend. However, if you are interested in becoming a member of the Alliance, please sign up > HERE

Who are the organizers?

The Variant Effect Seminar Series Committee members are listed here https://www.varianteffect.org/vess-committee/

Are the talks recorded?

If speakers consent, the recordings will be publicly available on our YouTube channel
Speakers can also now link their VESS talks to bioRxiv preprints!
You can also find a list of previous speakers and talks > HERE

Where can I find the zoom link and calendar invite link?

Here! > VESS ZOOM LINK
and here! > Add these events to your calendar.

Future Seminars

We are looking for speakers, including students, postdocs, and new faculty (<1 year in position)!!

If you are interested in presenting or would like to recommend someone, please fill out this online >> SPEAKER NOMINATION FORM

or contact one of the VESS Organizers on our AVE slack channel!

(sign up to become a member and join conversations on slack https://www.varianteffect.org/membership/)