Home RNA Matters Lecture Series

RNA Matters Lecture Series

2019

February 28, 2019

Speaker: Eleonora Leucci, PhD
Affiliation: Professor, Department of Oncology KU Leuven, Belgium
Title: lncRNA and beyond: Uncoupling cytosolic and mitochondrial-translation as an effective anti melanoma strategy
Location: Bluemle, Room 107
Time: 11AM-12PM

2018

Monday May 21, 2018

Speaker: Panagiotis (Panos) Roussos, MD, PhD
Affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, and the Department of Psychiatry Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY
Title: Big Data Analysis and Genetic Liability to Neuropsychiatric Disease
Location: Jefferson Alumni Hall, Room 207
Time: 3:30-4:30pm
Video Available Here!

2017

Monday June 26, 2017

Speaker: Nikos Kyrpides, PhD
Affiliation: Prokaryote Super Program Head, DOE Joint Genome Institute
Title: Identifying the micro from the peta: tales of big data in the micro world

Abstract: View abstract
Shotgun sequencing of environmental samples has revealed a new universe of microbial communities (metagenomes) involving previously uncultured organisms, which is expected to further advance our understanding the structure and function of entire microbial communities and expand our current knowledge of genetic and functional diversity of individual micro-organisms. Although most metagenomic studies aim to unveil the genetic and functional novelty present in various environments, current best practices in metagenome analysis tools, and workflows, are suffering from a number of pitfalls, impairing the fulfillment of this objective. I will describe some of our computational approaches and will emphasize the value of assemblies in enabling the exploration of large metagenomic datasets and the discovery of novelty. I will discuss the results for the discovery of novel phylogenetic lineages as well as the exploration of the viral dark matter.

Location: Jefferson Alumni Hall, Solis Cohen Auditorium
Time: 3:30-4:30pm
Video Available Here!

Wednesday June 7, 2017

Speaker: Anindya Dutta, MD, PhD
Affiliation: Byrd Professor and Department Chair, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Virginia
Title: Noncoding RNAs Regulating Differentiation and Cancer

Abstract: View abstract
I will present novel long noncoding RNAs that we have identified because of their roles in skeletal muscle differentiation (H19 and MUNC) and in the progression of cancers (DRAIC). I will end with a discussion on a novel family of short RNAs, tRFs, that regulate gene expression.

Location: Jefferson Alumni Hall, Solis Cohen Auditorium
Time: 3:30-4:30pm
Video Available Here!

Wednesday April 19, 2017

Speaker: Todd M. Lowe, PhD
Affiliation: Professor and Chair, Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz
Title: The Human tRNA Story: A Complex Epigenomic Landscape Unfolds

Abstract: View abstract
Despite mounting evidence for the importance of tRNA regulation in diverse biological processes, relatively little is known about the regulation of specific tRNA loci in complex multicellular organisms. In humans, as in most eukaryotes, tRNA genes comprise one of the largest single gene families that produce more transcripts than any other type of RNA. However, estimates of transcriptional activity of the 500+ individual human tRNA genes across multiple tissue types are almost entirely absent due to difficulty measuring specific tRNA transcript abundance on a large scale, as well as uncertain assignment of most transcripts among identical loci. I will present our new analyses of human tRNA genes using a combination of (1) specialized tRNA-seq transcriptional analyses (ARM-seq), (2) epigenetic data revealing transcription activation states associated with each gene over a range of cell types, and (3) and novel insights derived from a new version of tRNAscan-SE, which has been the standard for tRNA gene prediction for two decades. Enhancements to tRNAscan-SE include development of over 100 new, specialized tRNA covariance models which enable improved classification of eukaryotic, bacterial, archaeal, and mitochondrial tRNAs. These new computational analyses and experimental data are being integrated into the Genomic tRNA Database to provide the most comprehensive view of tRNA form & function, enabling new insights and suggesting new studies in tRNA and tRNA-derived small RNA research.

Location: Jefferson Alumni Hall, Solis Cohen Auditorium
Time: 3:30-4:30pm
Video Available Here!

2016

Wednesday November 16, 2016

Speaker: Tao Pan, PhD
Affiliation: Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Committee on Microbiology, The University of Chicago
Title: mRNA and tRNA Modifications in the Regulation of Gene Expression
Location: Jefferson Alumni Hall, Solis Cohen Auditorium
Time: 3:30-4:30pm
Video Available Here!

Thursday June 10, 2016

Speaker: George A. Calin, MD, PhD
Affiliation: Professor, Departments of Experimental Therapeutics & Leukemia Co-Director, The RNA Interference and Non-Coding RNA Center The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Houston, Texas
Title: About Chomsky, DNA Patterns, Non-Coding RNAs and Cancer Patients
Location: Jefferson Alumni Hall, Room 207
Time: 12:00-1:00pm
Video Available Here!

2014

Monday November 17, 2014

Speaker: Carol J. Bult, PhD
Affiliation: Professor, Deputy Director, The Jackson Laboratory Cancer Center. Scientific Director, Patient Derived Xenograft/Cancer Avatar Program, The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine, 04609
Title: Patient Derived Xenografts (PDX) and Individualized Cancer Therapy

Abstract: View abstract
Genomic medicine offers the potential of improved outcomes for cancer patients by treating each individual with targeted therapies based on the genetic profile of their tumor. The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) has developed a platform for genomic and in vivo drug efficacy studies to advance the development of novel cancer therapies that are tailored to an individual patient. At the foundation of this platform are Patient Derived Xenografts (PDX) that are created by implanting human tumor material in immunodeficient NOD.Cg-Prkdcscid Il2rgtm1Wjl/SzJ (NOD scid gamma or NSG) mice. We have engrafted human tumors from over 20 different types of cancer into NSG mice to build a living tumor bank of over 350 Patient Derived Xenografts (PDX). Panels of PDX mice are ideally suited for “virtual clinical trials” to test experimental and existing therapies on a large scale and with high throughput. In this presentation I will describe the current state of the PDX resource and review the results of several Cancer Avatar platform validation studies, including the integration of PDX models with Phase II/III clinical trials in bladder and lung cancer.

Location: Jefferson Alumni Hall, Solis-Cohen Auditorium 1st floor (East End of Building)
Time: 2:00-3:00pm
Video Available Here!

Wednesday October 22, 2014

Speaker: Howard-Yana Shapiro, PhD
Affiliation: Chief Agricultural Officer, Mars Advanced Research Institute Fellow, MARS, INCORPORATED, University of California, Davis, The World Agroforestry Centre
Title: “Ending Stunting in Rural Africa Through Enhanced Nutrition and Micro-Nutrients in Plants” — It is not so much a question of more food. It is more a question of better food.

Abstract: View abstract
Stunting caused by chronic hunger and malnutrition will not be easily ended through food supplementation. With more than 35% of the children in rural Africa and more than 45% of the rural children in India stun ted, a global effort on the fundamental food crops of those populations must be improved to end stunting. This effort would be unprecedented in plant science. It is not a single crop but a large portfolio of diverse crops being worked on simultaneously that will allow the world to reduce the incidence of stunting and its devastating impact. This effort is underway with the African Orphan Crops Consortium. Using state of the art genomics, 101 key food crops of Africa will be breed for nutritional enhance ment, increased yields, climatic resistance, water and nutrient use efficiency, and pest and disease resistance. This is the first step in an improved nutritional and food security system.

Location:  Bluemle Life Sciences Building, Rooms 105/107
Time: Noon
Video Available Here!

Wednesday April 23, 2014

Speaker: Tuuli Lappalainen, PhD
Affiliation: New York Genome Center, and Department of Systems Biology Columbia University
Title: Transcriptome Sequencing Uncovers Functional Variation in the Human Genome
Location: Connelly Auditorium of the Hamilton Building
Time: 3:30pm
Video Available Here!

Wednesday March 5, 2014

Speaker: Edison T. Liu, MD
Affiliation: President and CEO of the Jackson Laboratory
Title: Systems Biology in Cancer Medicine: Combinatorics and the Long Tail
Location: Connelly Auditorium of the Hamilton Building
Time: Noon
Video Available Here!

2013

Monday May 20, 2013

Speaker: Lin He, PhD
Affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California at Berkeley
Title: miRNAs in the oncogene and tumor suppressor network
Location: TBD
Time: 3:30pm
Video Available Here!

Wednesday February 13, 2013

Speaker: Oliver Hobert, PhD
Affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Columbia University Medical Center
Title: Regulation of miRNA expression in the context of functional lateralization of the brain
Location: Solis-Cohen Auditorium of the Jefferson Alumni Hall Building
Time: 3:30pm
Video Available Here!

2012

Wednesday October 24, 2012

Speaker: Zissimos Mourelatos, MD
Affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Title: piRNAs and piRNPs: the good shepherds of the germline
Location: BLSB 101 of the Bluemle Life Sciences Building
Time: 3:30pm
Video Available Here!

Wednesday May 16, 2012

Speaker: Gideon Dreyfuss, PhD
Affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Title: U1 snRNP determines mRNA length: an unexpected dimension in gene expression regulation
Location: Connelly Auditorium of the Hamilton Building
Time: 3:30pm
Video Available Here!

Wednesday April 25, 2012

Speaker: James Eberwine, PhD
Affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Title: Cellular RNA Memory and the Sentinel RNA Hypothesis
Location: Connelly Auditorium of the  Hamilton Building
Time: 3:30pm
Video Available Here!

2011

Tuesday June 14, 2011

Speaker: Neil Smalheiser, MD/PhD
Affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago
Title: Two stories of small RNAs in synaptic plasticity
Location: Connelly Auditorium of the Hamilton Building
Time: 3:30pm
Video Available Here!

Wednesday May 11, 2011

Speaker: Frank Slack, PhD
Affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University
Title: MicroRNAs as targets and targeted therapies in cancer
Location: Connelly Auditorium of the Hamilton Building
Time: 3:30pm
Video Available Here!

Thursday February 24, 2011

Speaker: Eric Lai, PhD
Affiliation: Developmental Biology Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Title: MicroRNAs: Biogenesis and Function
Location: Connelly Auditorium of the Hamilton Building
Time: 3:30pm
Video Available Here!

2010

Wednesday December 15, 2010

Speaker: Ramin Shiekhattar, PhD
Affiliation: Gene Expression and Regulation Program, The Wistar Institute
Title: Long non-coding RNAs as enhancers of transcription
Time: 3:30pm
No video available

Monday October 18, 2010

Speaker: Pier Paolo Pandolfi, MD, PhD
Affiliation: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School
Title: A Novel Biological Dimension for Coding and Non-Coding mRNAs and its Role in Tumorigenesis
Time: 3:30pm
No video available

Comments are closed