The Radiation Oncology Education Collaborative Study Group 2020 Spring Symposium: Is Virtual the New Reality?

PURPOSE: Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Radiation Oncology Education Collaborative Study Group (ROECSG) hosted its annual international symposium using a virtual format in May 2020. This report details the experience of hosting a virtual meeting and presents attendee feedback on the platform. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The ROECSG symposium was hosted virtually on May 15, 2020. A postsymposium survey was distributed electronically to assess attendee demographics, participation, and experience. Attendee preference and experience were queried using 3-point and 5-point Likert-type scales, respectively. Symplur LLC was used to generate analytics for the conference hashtag (#ROECSG). RESULTS: The survey was distributed to all 286 registrants, with a response rate of 67% (191 responses). Seventeen nonattendee responses were omitted from this analysis, for a total of 174 included respondents. Eighty-two attendees (47%) were present for the entire symposium. A preference for a virtual symposium was expressed by 78 respondents (45%), whereas 44 (25%) had no preference and 52 (30%) preferred an in-person meeting. A total of 150 respondents (86%) rated the symposium as "extremely" well organized. Respondents who had not attended a prior in-person ROECSG symposium were more likely to prefer the virtual format (P = .03). Seventy-eight respondents (45%) reported a preference for the virtual platform for reviewing scholarly work, and 103 (59%) reported a preference for an in-person platform for networking. On the day of the symposium, #ROECSG had 408 tweets and 432,504 impressions. CONCLUSIONS: The 2020 ROECSG symposium was well received and can serve as a framework for future virtual meetings. Although the virtual setting may facilitate sharing research, networking aspects are more limited. Effort is needed to develop hybrid virtual and in-person meetings that meet the needs of participants in both settings. Social media is a significant avenue for dissemination and discussion of information and may be valuable in the virtual setting.

Characterization of microsatellite markers for pinedrops, Pterospora andromedea (Ericaceae), from Illumina MiSeq sequencing.

PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Pterospora andromedea (Ericaceae) is a mycoheterotrophic plant endemic to North America with a disjunct distribution. Eastern populations are in decline compared to western populations. Microsatellite loci will allow comparison of genetic diversity in endangered to nonthreatened populations. • METHODS AND RESULTS: Illumina MiSeq sequencing resulted in development of 12 polymorphic microsatellite loci from 63 perfect microsatellite loci tested. One polymorphic locus was obtained from a traditional enrichment method. These 13 loci were screened across two western and two eastern populations. For western and eastern populations, respectively, number of alleles ranged from one to 10 and one to four, and observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.000 to 0.389 and 0.000 to 0.143. • CONCLUSIONS: These are the first microsatellite loci developed for Pterospora. They will be useful in conservation efforts of the eastern populations and for examination of population genetic parameters at different geographic scales and comparison with mycorrhizal fungal hosts.