Subject: [Ltkhkunta] Remember to register by April 25th! Epigenetic Aspects and Approaches on Cancer Biology and Stress Response”, May 7

 

Dear all,

 

Welcome everyone in our 1-day minisymposium “Epigenetic Aspects and Approaches on Cancer Biology and Stress Response”, May 7!

 

Reminder: the deadline to register for the lectures and discussion groups, April 25, is approaching.

 

The aim of this Biocenter Oulu Minisymposium is to introduce doctoral students and post-doctoral scientists to a variety of approaches to improve their understanding concerning cancer biology and stress response relating to e.g. inflammation or environmental insults, and to obtain new insights in the broad field of epigenetics. We will have a great selection of speakers representing many different aspects and approaches in this important area.

 

 

Speaker info:

 

1.

Dr. Maria Berdasco, Cancer Epigenetics and Biology Program (PEBC), Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Barcelona, Spain

Talks:                 1) Epigenetic mechanisms in development and disease: an overview

2) Genetic disruption of Epigenetic Enzymes in Cancer        

 

María Berdasco is a senior researcher and has been trained on epigenetics during the last decade. She graduated in Molecular Biology with Honors from the Universidad de Oviedo in 2001, where she also obtained her Ph.D degree specializing in plant epigenetics in 2005. Her stay at the Spanish National Cancer Research Center (CNIO, Madrid) during four years (2004-2008) and the position at PEBC-IDIBELL allow her to work with the state-of-the-art technology in the field of Cancer Epigenetics. Her current research in the group of Dr. Manel Esteller, a world’s top name in the cancer epigenetics field, is devoted to the establishment of the epigenome maps of normal and transformed cells, the study of the interactions between epigenetic modifications and non-coding RNAs, and the development of new epigenetic drugs for cancer therapy.

http://www.pebc.cat/grupodetalle.php?idg=7 (Manel Esteller’s group page)

 

2.

Dr. Wei Li, Associate Professor, Division of Biostatistics, Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, USA

Talk:                   Computational Analysis of Cancer Epigenome and Transcriptome

 

Wei Li's Computational Epigenomics Lab is focused on the design and application of bioinformatics algorithms to elucidate global regulatory mechanism by integrating data from ChIP-seq, DNA methylation, Nucleosome positioning, and RNA-seq. They are also working with bench and clinical collaborators to understand epigenetic gene regulation and transcription dynamics in various biological processes and disease models. They have developed a number of widely used algorithms to detect and annotate genome-wide cis-regulatory regions, including MAT for analyzing ChIP-chip experiments on genome tiling arrays, MACS for model based analysis of ChIP-seq, BSMAP/RRBSMAP for DNA methylation analysis using Bisulfite-seq, and fragile nucleosomes using MNase-seq. These algorithms have gathered thousands of academic users worldwide and hundreds of citations, including > 50 papers in Cell and Nature series.

http://lilab.openwetware.org/

 

3.

Dr. Claus Storgaard Sørensen, Associate professor, Biotech Research & Innovation Centre, University of Copenhagen BRIC, Sørensen Group, Denmark

Talk:                   Coordination between DNA damage checkpoint and repair pathways

 

The goal of the studies in Claus Sørensen’s group is to understand the mechanisms responsible for maintenance of genomic stability in mammalian cells. They are primarily working on the identification and characterization of novel regulators of the cellular DNA damage response (DDR). This response is critical to avoid gradual accumulation of mutations when cells proliferate, and DDR failure can lead to genomic instability and consequently cancer. It is also of crucial importance in the clinic where cancer cells are treated with DNA damaging agents such as ionizing radiation and cytotoxic drugs. The research is focused on two partly overlapping areas of research: 1) Large scale functional siRNA interference screens to identify and characterize the key regulators of DNA damage response pathways, and 2) Genome maintenance in the context of chromatin.

http://www.bric.ku.dk/staff_dynamic/staff/description/?id=172835

http://www.bric.ku.dk/Research/Sorensen_Group/

 

4.

Dr. Matthew Fuchter, Senior Lecturer in Synthetic and Medicinal Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, UK

Talk:                   Small molecule epigenetic intervention of disease

 

Matthew Fuchter is a Senior Lecturer in Synthetic and Medicinal Chemistry within the Synthesis Group at the Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London. He is also co-Director of a new MRes course in Drug Discovery , a Research Board member of the Institute of Chemical Biology and a Managerial Board member and Senior Investigator in Cancer Medicinal Chemistry for an anti-cancer drug discovery group. The Fuchter Group uses expertise in chemical synthesis to impact molecular science in chemistry, biology and materials science. They have Efforts on: 1) Chemical Biology, Molecular Imaging, and Drug Discovery (Targeting Epigenetic Gene Regulation and Cancer Imaging), 2) Small Molecule Materials for Devices (Helicene Materials), and 3) Synthetic Chemistry.

http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/people/m.fuchter 

 

5.

Prof. Lorenz Poellinger, Karolinska Institutet, Dept of Cell and Molecular Biology, Stockholm, Sweden

Talk:                   Epigenetic mechanisms regulating the hypoxic response and stem cell maintenance     

 

Hypoxia, which arises when oxygen demand exceeds supply, is an early pathophysiological signature in e.g. coronary heart disease, stroke, peripheral vascular disease in patients with type 2 diabetes, and in growing solid tumors in cancer disease.  Understanding the cellular and systemic responses to hypoxia is thus fundamental for human health. Mammalian cells adapt to hypoxic/ischemic conditions through a gene regulatory response pathway mediated by hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs). This response is initiated to ensure adequate oxygen availability and at the same time minimize the influence of oxygen free radicals. Lorenz Poellinger’s research group is currently interested in understanding the epigenetic landscape in hypoxic cells, epigenetic regulatory mechanisms determining the cellular response to hypoxia, and to understand the interplay between these mechanisms and the function of hypoxia-inducible transcription factors (HIFs) in normal physiology and disease. They are also interested in targeting the cellular hypoxia response program to develop new therapies in e.g. cancer disease.

http://ki.se/ki/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=27086&a=26109&cid=27089&l=en

 

 

Minisymposium:

Epigenetic Aspects and Approaches on Cancer Biology and Stress Response

May 7, 2013, Oulu

 

 

Time

May 7, 2013

Place

University of Oulu, Kontinkangas campus: lecture hall F202 (Dept. of Pharmacology and Toxicology)

Credits

0.7 ECTS for postgraduate training

Requirements

To obtain the credits, participation in the lectures, post-lecture discussion and suggested readings are required.

Organizer

Biocenter Oulu Doctoral Programme (BCO-DP)

Registration

By April 25, 2013. Send e-mail to Ritva Saastamoinen, indicating if you participate in the lectures only, or also in the discussion groups. If you participate in a discussion group, please give your name, the suggested speaker for your discussion group, your Home Institute, Department and Principal Supervisor. The discussion groups will be formed based on the registrations.

Transportation

There will be bus transportation between Linnanmaa and Kontinkangas. The bus leaves from Door J on the Linnanmaa campus at 8:35 am (25 minutes before the scheduled beginning of the symposium) and returns after the lectures back to Linnanmaa (leaving at 15:30 pm).

Information

BCO-DP coordinator Ritva Saastamoinen, tel. 0294 48 6102, e-mail: ritva.saastamoinen(at)oulu.fi, and http://www.oulu.fi/biocenter/ 

 

Please note that there is no limitation in the number of participants to the lectures, but the discussion groups are limited to doctoral students.

 

PROGRAMME

 

9:00-9:10

Opening

9:10-9:55

Keynote: Epigenetic mechanisms in development and disease: an overview

Dr. Maria Berdasco

Cancer Epigenetics and Biology Program (PEBC), Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Barcelona, Spain

9:55-10:40

Computational Analysis of Cancer Epigenome and Transcriptome

Dr. Wei Li

Division of Biostatistics, Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, USA

10:40-11:10

Coffee/tea & refreshments (30 min)

11:10-11:55

Coordination between DNA damage checkpoint and repair pathways

Dr. Claus Storgaard Sørensen

Biotech Research & Innovation Centre, University of Copenhagen BRIC, Denmark

11:55-12:40

Genetic disruption of Epigenetic Enzymes in Cancer

Dr. Maria Berdasco

12:40-13:40

Lunch Break (1h)

13:40-14:25

Small molecule epigenetic intervention of disease 

Dr. Matthew Fuchter

Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, UK

14:25-15:10

Epigenetic mechanisms regulating the hypoxic response and stem cell maintenance

Prof. Lorenz Poellinger

Karolinska Institutet, Dept of Cell and Molecular Biology, Stockholm, Sweden

15:10-15:15

Closing

 

15:30-17:00

 

Post –lecture discussion groups with the speakers, for pre-registered students only; place TBA

 

Each speaker provides beforehand 1-2 articles of their own to be distributed to pre-registered doctoral students. The students participating in the discussion groups read the papers before the symposium. The papers can be used as a background in the post-lecture discussions (by default 3-8 students/ speaker; depending on the number of students 1-2 groups can be combined). The readings will be distributed to the participants approximately 1 week before the symposium.

 

_________

 

Programme is also available at http://www.oulu.fi/sites/default/files/content/CancerInflammEpigen_May_2013_Program.pdf .

 

 

Best regards,

Ritva

 

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Ritva Saastamoinen, PhD, Docent

Biocenter Oulu Doctoral Programme Coordinator

Adjunct associate professor

 

Biocenter Oulu

PL 5000 (Aapistie 5a)

FIN-90014 University of Oulu, Finland

 

Tel: (+358) 0294 48 6102

E-mail ritva.saastamoinen(at)oulu.fi 

Web pages: http://www.oulu.fi/biocenter/

Fax: (+358) 08 537 6115

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