The Annual Drosophila Research Conference spans generations of scientists

What keeps scientists coming back to the same conference year after year—sometimes for decades?

For 68 years, the Annual Drosophila Research Conference has been a prime example of how a meeting can become the anchor point for a community—attendees’ loyalty extends beyond the field itself to the meeting as an institution in its own right. More than a venue for sharing discoveries, the fly meeting is the community’s gathering place, bringing together students, postdocs, faculty, and professionals from around the world. Here, first-time attendees present alongside leaders in the field, collaborations take shape over coffee or lunch, and mentors introduce their trainees to a community that often becomes a lifelong professional home.

As one generation steps away, the next steps in, carrying forward a tradition that has endured for nearly seven decades. Here’s why researchers keep returning to Dros, and what the conference offers at every stage of a scientific career—four first-time attendees weigh in and longtime attendees take their affection for the community and the meeting a step further, serving as this year’s organizers.

Stefania Bonanni
Losick Lab at Boston College

Career stage: Graduate student
Meetings attended: One meeting (2026)

What surprised you about the fly meeting that you weren’t expecting? I wasn’t expecting to make lasting connections with other students and early career researchers that were going to the meeting for the first time. There was an event on the first day of the meeting for first-timers. There, I met a couple other students that I was able to get to know throughout the rest of the meeting, and I am still in contact with them today. 

What made you decide to go to the fly meeting? I was recommended by my advisor to go, as it would be a great way for me to explore different areas of Drosophila research and connect with potential collaborators early in my graduate school career. 

Will you go to another fly meeting? Yes, I plan to go to another conference, and hopefully present my research there in the future.

Lydia Bischoff
Losick Lab at Boston College

Career stage: Research associate
Meetings attended: One meeting (2026)

What surprised you about the fly meeting that you weren’t expecting? It was nice to see how friendly and uplifting everyone was about each other’s research. It was great to connect with and learn from other Drosophila researchers. These positive experiences made this my favorite conference I have attended so far. 

How has the fly meeting impacted your research or career path? Speaking to and learning from other scientists led me to consider other techniques and processes that could strengthen my own and other lab members’ research projects. I have learned a lot from this conference.

Will you go to another fly meeting? Yes! 

Madisen Caferro
Folker Lab at Boston College

Career stage: Third-year PhD candidate
Meetings attended: One meeting (2026)

Why did you decide to go to Dros? While I had attended other wonderful conferences in previous years, I decided to branch out to the fly meeting this year because I had recently started working on a new project that was very unfamiliar territory for our lab. I felt that I needed to meet other researchers that had worked on this topic in Drosophila before, and could point me toward tools that had already been established and validated in our model organism. 

What did you gain from your experience? I met several PIs and fellow graduate students who were working on similar projects to mine and had faced similar challenges. It was amazing to meet people from the other side of the country who had been strangers to me one minute, and the next minute were offering to meet with me, to come to my talk, and even to ship me their reagents. I had expected interesting science at the conference, but was truly surprised and overwhelmed by the warmth and support of the people I met there. The fly meeting marked a turning point in several experiments I had been struggling with, and a turning point in my connections with the Drosophila research community. I met new friends and mentors who I still communicate with to this day, and I hope to see them all again at next year’s fly meeting!

Elizabeth Taylor
Louisiana State University

Career stage: First-year graduate student
Meetings attended: One meeting (2026)

What surprised you about the fly meeting that you weren’t expecting? What surprised me most about the fly meetings is how welcoming the community is to new people! I have only recently started my journey into fly research, yet everyone I talked to was super supportive and helped me think of new ideas and potential caveats for my experiments. 

What made you decide to go to the fly meeting? My PI, a frequent attendee of the fly meeting encouraged me to present my research at the meeting. I wanted to meet scientists more experienced in fly behavioral research, something I am just now learning.

How has the fly meeting impacted your research or career path? Those at the fly meeting brought up many potential possibilities for my research direction. I have implemented some of their ideas and have found interesting results! I was also fortunate enough to talk with another lab and trade fly lines with them, which will help further expand my research. 

Will you go to another fly meeting? I definitely plan on going to another conference! 

Neha Ghosh
Treisman Lab at NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Career stage: NIH-K99 postdoctoral fellow
Meetings attended: 4 meetings (since 2022)

What made you decide to go to the fly meeting? Despite the massive scale, this meeting reflects how welcoming and tightly knit the fly community is. While we know that flies are the best model system to work with, I was impressed to see Drosophila research span across so many diverse fields. Also the networking hotspots, workshops, career development success stories and tips, student/postdoc/faculty meetup to catch up with your scientific buddies or make new ones are truly a rewarding experience, which keeps bringing me back to this conference every year.

How has the fly meeting impacted your research or career path? Dros 2022 to Dros 2025 have been gamechangers for me. Presenting my work at the poster sessions or delivering platform talks provided me with feedback that helped me refine my experiments. Moreover, seeing what other labs work on and how they approach their scientific questions expanded my knowledge.

Will you go to another fly meeting? Absolutely, I am excited for Dros 2027, in Philly! Let’s go!

Andrea (Drea) Darby
Ludington Lab, Carnegie Institution for Science

Career stage: Postdoc
Meetings attended: 9 meetings (since 2017)

Why do you continue to come back to the fly meeting? I have been attending every fly meeting since my first one as an undergrad in 2017 at the Town and Country in San Diego. I keep coming back because this meeting is my scientific home and has molded me into the scientist\ I am today. Plus, I get to reconnect with colleagues and establish new ones while also learning about the latest research in our favorite model organism Drosophila melanogaster. Also, this meeting has allowed me ample opportunity to gain experience in leadership roles like co-session chair, poster judge, panel moderator, and workshop facilitator. 

How has the fly meeting impacted your research or career path? The fly meeting has had an enormous impact on my trajectory and training as a scientist by connecting me with my future advisors, collaborators, and even life-long friends. Specifically, it was at Dros 2018 after I presented at the microbiome workshop where I met my postbacc advisor, PhD advisor, and postdoctoral advisor. I remember after the workshop we all went to a local pub to talk more about the exciting work presented at the meeting. Even though I was an undergrad, I was treated like a fellow colleague. That experience left a huge impression on me to pursue my PhD in a Drosophila host-microbe lab. It was at the 2019 meeting in Dallas where I met my dear friend Taylar Mouton at a joint lab dinner that both of our advisors were hosting. Ever since then, we have been joined at the hip at every fly meeting, and we even facilitated a workshop together at the 2025 conference.  

Will you go to another fly meeting? Yes. I think it’s important for researchers across all career stages to come to the fly meeting because we need to nurture this community. You never know what type of connection you’ll make that will impact the course of your research and career like it did for me.

Norma Velazquez
Louis & Clark College

Career stage: Mid-career
Meetings attended: 11 meetings (since 2011)

Why do you continue to come back to the fly meeting? I first attended the meeting as a postdoc, and participating in the undergraduate science and primarily undergraduate institution programming at the meeting was one of the deciding factors in my career trajectory. After that meeting, I solidified my intention to pursue a career at a small liberal arts institution, which is the career I have now.

Earlier in my career, I had attended other conferences, which felt overwhelming and lonely at the same time. Since my very first time attending Dros, I felt welcomed and supported. People from many career stages came to my poster, and I’ve always gotten great feedback and encouragement at this meeting. The welcoming nature and supportive environment of Dros keep me coming back and bringing trainees to the meeting whenever possible.

What is one of your favorite things about Dros? Dros has something for everyone, no matter the career stage. This is the friendliest, most supportive setting I’ve encountered for undergraduate presentations. They get feedback from PIs, postdocs, graduate students, and other college students, which does not happen at undergraduate-specific conferences. They get to attend many different kinds of talks, from the keynote to specialized topics in symposia, and get a broad perspective of biology and research in the fruit fly.

This meeting has been an inspiration to my undergraduate students who have attended, all of whom have become more interested in research after attending the meeting. For me, it was a great meeting during my early career stage, when I formed many of the connections I have now. The feedback I got on research I presented at the meeting was instrumental in guiding those projects to successful publication. Now, as a mid-career scientist, the meeting keeps me up to date with cutting-edge science, helps me maintain and form new connections for me and my trainees, and re-energizes me!

How has Dros expanded your network? Participating in Dros initially connected me and has allowed me to remain connected to several scientific networks that have been crucial for my career path. The meeting is a place where we know we can see each other in person once a year, while most other interactions with these collaborators happen over Zoom. We all look forward to meeting again, and as the years go by, I’m finding it harder to schedule meetings with all the people I now know. This is a great problem to have.

SeYeon Chung
Louisiana State University

Career stage: Mid-career
Meetings attended: Nearly 20 meetings (since 2005)

Why do you continue to come back to the fly meeting? I continue to come back because the meeting consistently provides insightful discussions, new ideas, new techniques for working with flies, and I always learn something new each time I attend. It’s also one of the best opportunities to connect with other researchers in the fly community and build meaningful professional relationships in the field.

How has Dros expanded your network?  I’ve made many great connections through the fly meeting over the years. Some of the most meaningful have been with other PIs in my field who started their labs around the same times as I did. It was incredibly valuable to have peers who were going through many of the same challenges and experiences. Over time, some of those relationships grew beyond professional connections, and several colleagues became close friends.