As Surgical Chief, Dr. Schrump 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.

1) thoracic surgery, 2) cancer epigenetics, 3) microRNA, 4) lung cancer, 5) esophageal cancer, 6) malignant pleural mesothelioma

Jörn Walter (PhD) is professor and head of the Department of Epigenetics/Genetics. He has a strong record on DNA-methylation biology and mapping, marker development and epigenomic data interpretation. For BLUEPRINT he is leader of WP16 (training, communication & networking)

Genetics, Molecular Biology

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.

Dr. Bennani-Baiti is interested in the mechanisms of tumor pathogenesis, as well as in tumor, metastasis, and prognosis markers, with a current focus in childhood cancers. He has recently developed bioinformatic and mathematical methods to uncovering genes significantly associated with particular disease states from small-size cohorts (which cannot be analyzed with conventional statistical methods for lack of statistical power), the only cohorts available for most childhood and adult cancers. Using such methods, he has for example discovered the first metastasis and prognosis molecular markers of Ewing′s sarcoma, a highly aggressive tumor of bone and soft tissues that afflicts mostly children and young adults. He is also interested in inferring signaling pathway status and connectivity directly from tumor specimen. He is also conducting investigations into the epigenetic mechanisms of tumorigenesis.

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.

neurology, neuropathology, and neurosciences

H.E. Dr. Maryam Matar is the former Director General of the Community Development Authority (CDA), which undertakes to formulate social policies and deliver social services that are in line with and contribute to the achievement of the social development objectives of Dubai Strategic Plan 2007 – 2015, launched by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum on February 3rd, 2007. In 2005, Dr. Matar was the leader of the executive team that set up social development strategies for Dubai Strategic Plan. Born in 1975, Dr. Matar holds a B.A. in Medicine and Surgery (1993-1998) and a degree from the Family Medicine Residency Program with distinction. She is also a graduate of the H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Program for Leadership Development with distinction, second batch (2003-2004). Furthermore, Dr. Matar is the founder and Executive Director of two non-profit civil associations, “UAE Down’s Syndrome Association” and “UAE Genetic Diseases Association”, which support families from 17 different nationalities. In addition, she has initiated several national community outreach programs such as “UAE Free of Thalassemia by 2012” and established a number of Wellness Centers in Higher Colleges of Technology and Dubai Ladies Club.

Genetics

Dr. Kaina obtained his Ph.D. in Genetics in 1976 from the Universtity of Halle, Germany. He completed his postdoctoral training at the Institute of Genetics in Gatersleben and continued his studies on DNA repair at the Department of Molecular Biology in Leiden, Netherlands, at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg and, as a Heisenberg fellow, at the Department of Genetics of the Nuclear Research Center in Karlsruhe, Germany. In 1993, he obtained a full professorship at the Institute of Toxicology of the University of Mainz and, since 2003, he acts as a director of the Institute. His research program focuses on MGMT and the regulation of repair genes, DNA damage signaling, genotoxicity, cancer formation and death of cells exposed to radiation, chemical genotoxins and anticancer drugs. In a translational research program, his group studies the mechanisms of resistance of glioma, melanoma and other cancer cell types to alkylating anticancer drugs.

DNA repair and genotoxic signaling Mechanisms of chemical carcinogenesis Mechanisms of anticancer drugs and DNA damage-triggered apoptosis

Alyssa Alabassi is British entrepreneur and UK trained & qualified practicing surgeon with extensive knowledge of the various layers of the health system in the UK. She worked in an advanced computation laboratory at Cancer Research UK devising IT solutions for connected and integrated care pathways. She chaired international business discussions on Big Data, Population Based Solutions, Predictive Analysis and Connected Objects in healthcare delivery. Alyssa’s specialty is Breast Cancer and Familial Breast cancer and has successfully setup prevention clinics for patients at high risk of developing breast cancer.

Cancer

Epigenetic and transcriptional regulation in cancer.

Scientific Director Department of Urology, Director Center for Clinical Research Speaker. Prof. Schüles working group is specifically focused on finding out whether this is due to the removal of methyl groups from the chromatin or more likely due to the lack of demethylation. The group aims to obtain detailed information about the role of LSD1 by specifically looking at the dysregulation of it. As overexpression of LSD1 leads to the development of prostate and lung tumours in old mice the researchers will focus on finding out why this happens.

Basic epigenetic mechanisms in cellular assays and explorative mouse models Validation of epigenetic control in animal models of disease Transfer of epigenetic principles to clinical applications

M. Cristina Cardoso studied Biology at the University of Lisbon (Portugal) and did her post-doctoral training at the Harvard Medical School (Boston, USA) where she worked on cell cycle regulation during terminal differentiation and functional organization of the mammalian nucleus. She then became a group leader at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (Berlin, Germany) and since 2008 she is a full Professor for Cell Biology and Epigenetics at the Department of Biology of the Technische Universität Darmstadt (Germany). Her main research area is the cell biology of the mammalian (epi)genome. She is also interested in developing methods for the intracellular delivery of peptides and proteins and studying protein-protein interactions in living cells.

Replication, Translation and Reprogramming of the Epigenome

Mario Bauer is a specialist in environmental health at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research. His scientific work is focused on identification and risk assessment of environmental and individual genetic dispositions accounting for environment-related diseases. He is an expert in toxicology. Beyond his research interests he gives private lectures and seminars in environmental medicine at the University of Leipzig.

Environmental epigenetics, Aryl hydrocarpon receptor signaling

Marvin H. Caruthers is a Distinguished Professor at the University of Colorado. A Guggenheim Fellow, Dr. Caruthers completed the Ph.D. at Northwestern University and post-doctoral studies at MIT. Professor Caruthers interests include nucleic acids chemistry and biochemistry. Approximately 35 years ago, the methodologies for chemically synthesizing DNA/RNA were developed in his laboratory and incorporated into instruments for synthesizing DNA/RNA as used by biochemists, biologists, and molecular biologists. He is the recipient of several academic and research awards including The National Academy of Sciences Award in the Chemical Sciences, The Prelog Medal, The Economists Award in Biotechnology, and The US National Medal of Science. Dr. Caruthers is an elected member of The US National Academy of Sciences, The American Academy of Arts & Sciences, The National Inventors Hall of Fame, and a Corresponding Member of the German Academy of Science Gottingen. He is a co-founder of Amgen and Applied Biosystems.

Bio-Organic & Bio-Inorganic, Nucleic Acids, Chemical Biology/Genetics

Dr. Hanna, the founder and CEO of Ribomed Biotechnologies, received her Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California, Davis and did her postdoctoral work in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics as an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. She was an Assistant Professor of Biological Chemistry at the University of California Irvine College of Medicine, where she received Young Investigator awards from the American Cancer Society and the Beckman Foundation, and an Associate Professor of Biochemistry until she founded Ribomed. Dr. Hanna is the inventor of the Abscription/CAPS technology. She has been awarded over $10 million in grants and contracts and her work has resulted in numerous publications and patents. Dr. Hanna also serves on the Grant Review Board for Praespero, an autoimmune disease foundation.

genetics, genetics disorders, cancer biology

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. Zhang graduated from Johns Hopkins University with PhD. He has worked at Harvard University Genome Centre as Senior System Biologist for years before joining University of Hong Kong in 2013. Dr. Zhang lab has broad interest in the interaction between genetics and epigenetics components, and its implications in tumorigenesis (Nature Immunology 2012). Epigenetic factors, such as chromatin-remodelers, epigenetics enzymes, and non-coding RNA, are key players to shape epigenetic landscape. His lab has made some breakthrough recently in cancer (epi)genetics, such as systematically cataloguing all of the chromatin regulators involved in tumorigenesis (Nucleic Acids Res 2017), developing a novel method to identify chromatin regulators (CRs) functioning as tumorigenesis driver, building a computer server to identify cancer master regulators, identifying a liver cancer stemness subtype regulated by a core microRNA regulatory circuitry, and characterizing DNA methylation at enhancer with causal effects on tumorigenesis (papers under revision).

genetic and epigenetic regulation in development and diseases

Dr. Alvaro Macieira-Coelho completed an MD at the University of Lisbon, Portugal, was an intern at the University Hospital, was a research associate at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, and completed a PhD at the University of Uppsala, Sweden. He was appointed Head of the Department of Cell Pathology, Cancer Institute, Villejuif, France and Research Director at the French National Institute of Health. He has authored 150 peer-reviewed articles and published nine books. Awards: Fritz Verzar prize, University of Vienna; Doctor Honoris Causa, University of Linköping; Johananof International visiting professor, Mario Negri Institute, Milan; Seeds of Science Career prize, Lisbon.

cancer, genetics

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.

neurology, neuropathology, and neurosciences

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

Sinisa Dovat completed his clinical training in Pediatrics at Pennsylvania State University, and in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at UCLA-Children’s Hospital. He received his research training at Cornell University Graduate School of Medical Sciences and at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at UCLA. As an independent investigator at University of Wisconsin, he focused his work on the regulation of the tumor suppression in childhood leukemia. He is the recipient of The Young Investigator Award by The American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and has been included in the best doctors in America list. Since September 2010, he has been serving as the Four Diamond Endowed Chair and Director of Translational Research and Developmental Therapeutics in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA. His research interests include epigenomic regulation and transcriptional control of cellular immortalization and senescence in leukemia and experimental therapy of malignant diseases.

Genetics

Malgorzata Wiench is a Lecturer in Cancer Biology at University of Birmingham. Uniquely based between the School of Dentistry and the Institute of Cancer and Genomic Medicine, she aims to understand the mechanisms by which chromatin organization and DNA methylation regulate gene expression in health and disease and to develop the basis for patient-tailored epigenetic cancer therapies. The investigations focus on the role of nuclear receptors, DNA methylation and hydroxymethylation in the functioning of distal regulatory elements. She has received grants from the Marie Curie Action (FP7) and Royal Society.

Epigenetics, Cancer biology

Bernd Kaina completed his PhD in Genetics from Universtity of Halle, Germany in 1976. He completed his Postdoctoral training at the Institute of Genetics in Gatersleben and continued his studies on DNA repair in the Department of Molecular Biology in Leiden, Netherlands and at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg and, as a Heisenberg Fellow in the Department of Genetics of the Nuclear Research Center in Karlsruhe, Germany. In 1993, he obtained a full professorship at Institute of Toxicology of the University of Mainz and, since 2003; he acts as a Director of the Institute. His research program focuses on MGMT and the regulation of repair genes, DNA damage signaling, genotoxicity, cancer formation and death of cells exposed to radiation, chemical genotoxins and anticancer drugs. In a translational research program, his group studies the mechanisms of resistance of glioma, melanoma and other cancer cell types to alkylating anticancer drugs.

Cancer

Mario Bauer is a specialist in environmental health at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research. His scientific work is focused on identification and risk assessment of environmental and individual genetic dispositions accounting for environment-related diseases. He is an expert in toxicology. Beyond his research interests he gives private lectures and seminars in environmental medicine at the University of Leipzig.

Environmental epigenetics, Aryl hydrocarpon receptor signaling

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.

Dr. Bennani-Baiti is interested in the mechanisms of tumor pathogenesis, as well as in tumor, metastasis, and prognosis markers, with a current focus in childhood cancers. He has recently developed bioinformatic and mathematical methods to uncovering genes significantly associated with particular disease states from small-size cohorts (which cannot be analyzed with conventional statistical methods for lack of statistical power), the only cohorts available for most childhood and adult cancers. Using such methods, he has for example discovered the first metastasis and prognosis molecular markers of Ewing′s sarcoma, a highly aggressive tumor of bone and soft tissues that afflicts mostly children and young adults. He is also interested in inferring signaling pathway status and connectivity directly from tumor specimen. He is also conducting investigations into the epigenetic mechanisms of tumorigenesis.

H.E. Dr. Maryam Matar is the former Director General of the Community Development Authority (CDA), which undertakes to formulate social policies and deliver social services that are in line with and contribute to the achievement of the social development objectives of Dubai Strategic Plan 2007 – 2015, launched by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum on February 3rd, 2007. In 2005, Dr. Matar was the leader of the executive team that set up social development strategies for Dubai Strategic Plan. Born in 1975, Dr. Matar holds a B.A. in Medicine and Surgery (1993-1998) and a degree from the Family Medicine Residency Program with distinction. She is also a graduate of the H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Program for Leadership Development with distinction, second batch (2003-2004). Furthermore, Dr. Matar is the founder and Executive Director of two non-profit civil associations, “UAE Down’s Syndrome Association” and “UAE Genetic Diseases Association”, which support families from 17 different nationalities. In addition, she has initiated several national community outreach programs such as “UAE Free of Thalassemia by 2012” and established a number of Wellness Centers in Higher Colleges of Technology and Dubai Ladies Club.

Genetics

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

H. K. GOSWAMI worked as a professor in Department of Genetics Barkatullah University, India

Genetics

Sorush Niknamian is a Professional Biologist, Senior Research Scientist, Chartered Scientist and Registered Scientist at Violet Cancer Institute (VCI). USA

Cell and Molecular Biology, Oncology and Biological Attacks.

Terence Pang is a Scientist in Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health Australia.

Ancestral Origins of Stress-Related Disorders such as Depression and anxiety.