Keynote Speakers
Thijn Brummelkamp
The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Thijn Brummelkamp is Director of Research at the Netherlands Cancer Institute with a research interest in the fields of cell and cancer biology. He is known for pioneering technologies such as short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) and the development of haploid human cells as a genetic model system. After his Ph.D. at the Netherlands Cancer Institute, he joined the Whitehead Institute to his independent research laboratory as a Whitehead Fellow. In 2011, he returned to the Netherlands Cancer Institute as a group leader. He is also a group leader at Oncode Institute and a professor of Genetics at Utrecht University. Brummelkamp was named one of MIT Technology Review’s Top 35 Innovators Under 35 in 2005, received the Kimmel Scholar Award in 2006, and was awarded the EMBO Gold Medal in 2013. Brummelkamp is a co-founder of the biotech companies Haplogen, Scenic Biotech, and Polar Therapeutics, a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), and a recipient of the NWO Spinoza Award.
Website: www.nki.nl/thijn-brummelkamp/
Genetics in haploid cells to identify ‘Alternative Pathways’
Human genes act together in complex, highly interconnected networks to execute a wide range of cellular functions. While detailed maps exist for biochemical pathways, the global wiring of genetic networks in human cells remains poorly understood. To address this, we exploit genetics in haploid human cells, in which the presence of a single gene copy facilitates systematic interrogation of gene function. Using large-scale loss- and gain-of-function screening combined with deep sequencing, this strategy allows links genetic perturbations to quantitative cellular phenotypes.
We have assigned genetic regulators to >100 quantitative phenotypes enabling comparative analysis. These comparisons point out specific regulators that affect only a limited number of traits and broad genetic regulators affecting many traits. Furthermore, these genetic searches enable the identification of alternative cellular pathways such as a new pathway for the synthesis of triglycerides, a p53-independent pathway for the induction of apoptosis and a new pathway for cellular iron uptake.
Stefanie Jegelka
Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
More information coming soon.