David S Schrump is a Surgical Chief who oversees clinical and translational research pertaining to thoracic and gastrointestinal malignancies, including the development of innovative molecular approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of these neoplasms. He has pioneered the development of epigenomic therapies for thoracic cancers. Using unique in vitro models and correlative experiments with surgical specimens, he has characterized epigenetic responses to tobacco carcinogens, and identified novel therapeutic targets in lung and esophageal cancers and pleural mesotheliomas. His clinical protocols have demonstrated that chromatin remodeling agents simultaneously induce growth arrest and augment immunogenicity of thoracic malignancies; these efforts have provided rationale for combining epigenetic regimens with immunotherapies for these neoplasms.

Genetics, Epigenetics

Dr. Bennani-Baiti, a former Howard Hughes Scholar and Human Genetics Fellow at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, carried out research into the molecular mechanisms of gene regulation at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. He later joined the faculty of St. Louis University School of Medicine wherein he continued this work. He currently leads several research programs at the Children′s Cancer Research Institute into the systems biology of childhood cancers, with a particular interest in sarcomas and other mesenchyme-derived tumors. He is also interested in the deregulation of signaling pathways (e.g. p53, Notch) and miRNAs in cancer, in epigenetics and epigenomics, and in novel methods to inferring tumor biomarkers and drug targets from Omics datasets. Dr. Bennani-Baiti is an active member of the American Association for Cancer Research, AACR Pediatric Cancer Working Group, Epigenetics Society, International Society for Systems Biology, and Society for Mathematical Biology.

Epigenetics

Alyssa Alabassi is a British entrepreneur and UK trained and qualified practicing surgeon with extensive knowledge of the various layers of the health system in UK. She worked in an Advanced Computation Laboratory at Cancer Research UK devising IT solution for connected and integrated care pathways. She chaired international business meetings on Big Data, Population Based Solutions, Predictive Analysis and Connected Objects. Her research interest is in Breast Cancer and Familial Breast Disease and has successfully setup prevention clinics for patients at high risk of developing breast cancer.

Cancer

Kári Stefánsson, M.D., Dr. Med. has served as President, Chief Executive Officer and a Director since he founded deCODE genetics in August 1996. Dr. Stefánsson was appointed the Chairman of the Board of Directors of deCODE genetics in December 1999. From 1993 until April 1997, Dr. Stefánsson was a professor of Neurology, Neuropathology and Neuroscience at Harvard University. From 1983 to 1993, he held faculty positions in Neurology, Neuropathology and Neurosciences at the University of Chicago. Dr. Stefánsson received his M.D. and Dr. Med. from the University of Iceland and is board-certified in neurology and neuropathology in the United States. He has published numerous articles on the genetics of common/complex diseases and has been among the leaders of the world in the discovery of variants in the sequence of the human genome that associate with the risk of common/complex traits. Dr. Stefánsson was chosen by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential men of the year for 2007 and by Newsweek as one of the 10 most important biologists of the 21 century. He was the recipient of the Jakobus Award 2007, The World Glaucoma Association Award for present scientific impact 2007, The European Society of Human Genetics Award 2009, and The Andre Jahre Award 2009.

Neuroepigenetics