Course Description
Please join us for this free webinar series where FAES faculty expand on topics they teach in their FAES courses.
Principles and Applications of CRISPR
Wednesday, March 18, 2026, 12PM – 12:30PM ET
Speakers: Helena Fabryova + Supriya Vartak, Scientific Program Manager, Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow - NIAMS (BIOL 425)
CRISPR-Cas9, a revolutionary gene-editing technology that has transformed biological research and holds immense potential for therapeutic applications. CRISPR-Cas9 uses a programmable RNA guide to direct the Cas9 nuclease to a specific DNA sequencing, allowing for precise cleavage and modification of the target DNA. This info session will touch upon principles of the CRISPR, discuss the possibility of genome-wide CRISPR screens, and the potential ethical issues associated with utilizing CRISPR technologies.
Angela is a nationally recognized leader in skills-based credentialing for the life sciences workforce and the founder of the Bioscience Core Skills Institute. With 15+ years in bioscience education and industry, she has built pathways from high school to biomanufacturing careers and advanced performance-based training. She also serves in national workforce leadership roles across NIIMBL, InnovATEBio, and NCTM.
Dr. Fabryova earned her Ph.D. in Genetics and Virology at the Charles University in Prague (Czech Republic). Since joining NIH in 2017, she has studied HIV accessory proteins and taught virology. Now a Scientific Program Manager at NIAMS, she supports fellows, investigators, and career development programs.
Dr. Vartak is a visiting postdoctoral fellow in NIAMS currently studying the regulation of transcription factors on B cells.
Both Dr. Fabryova and Dr. Vartak will be teaching BIOL 425 I Principles and Applications of CRISPR during Spring 2026 Session B.
Redefining Education: Microcredentials and the Rise of Skill-Based Learning
Wednesday, April 15, 2026, 12PM – 12:30PM ET
Speaker: Angela Consani, Bioscience Core Skills Institute (BCSI) (BIOL 001)
Skill-based microcredentials are reshaping education and workforce development. In this session, the Bioscience Core Skills Institute explores how verified competencies provide clearer signals of learner readiness, support industry-aligned training, and better meet the needs of biomedical and biotechnology employers. Learn how microcredentials transform career pathways and help educators adapt curricula for emerging workforce demands.
Angela is a nationally recognized leader in skills-based credentialing for the life sciences workforce and the founder of the Bioscience Core Skills Institute. With 15+ years in bioscience education and industry, she has built pathways from high school to biomanufacturing careers and advanced performance-based training. She also serves in national workforce leadership roles across NIIMBL, InnovATEBio, and NCTM.
Click here to view an archive of our past webinars, many with full recordings.
Join FAES for the Following Upcoming Events:
Virtual Information Session: FAES Spring Session B Programming
March 11, 2026 from 12 – 12:30PM ET
Location: Online Synchronous
Join the FAES Academic Programs Team to learn more about our Spring Session B courses, workshops, and our scholarship program.
Register now
Leukocytes on the Move: The Chemokine System Directs Traffic
March 12, 2026 from 11:45 – 1:00 pm ET (must arrive by 12PM)
Location: FAES Learning Labs Classrooms
Speaker: Joshua Farber M.D. Chief, Inflammation Biology Section, NIAID
The immune system must be ubiquitous and mobile. The chemokine family consists of a family of more than 40 chemotactic proteins that regulate leukocyte trafficking. My talk will include an overview of this family and present some of my laboratory’s recent data on chemokines in human T cell trafficking and cancer.
Register now
Trust Through Knowledge Grounding: AI Agents in Biomedicine
June 9, 2026 from 11:45 – 1:00 pm ET (must arrive by 12PM)
Location: FAES Learning Labs Classrooms
Speaker: Zhiyong Lu, PhD FACMI, FIAHSI, Senior Investigator, NIH, Professor of Computer Science (Adjunct), UIUC
Recent advances in large language models (LLMs) have enabled powerful AI agents for biomedical research, yet their adoption in high-stakes settings remains limited by concerns about hallucination, opacity, and reliability. In this talk, I discuss how expert-curated domain knowledge can be used to help mitigate these challenges in general-purpose LLMs. Drawing on real-world systems and case studies such as GeneAgent (Nature Methods 2025), I will highlight design principles for building AI agents that are scientifically sound, interpretable, and suitable for biomedical research and clinical applications.
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The Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences (FAES) at NIH seeks to foster education and research in the biomedical sciences by providing instruction at the cutting edge of biological science and its evolving applications. Our goals also include responding to the educational and cultural needs of the NIH community and projecting FAES educational assets globally. All courses and workshops are open to the public. NOTICE OF NONDISCRIMINATORY POLICY AS TO STUDENTS FAES admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin, sex, disability, or age in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship programs, and other school-administered programs.
