Name: Mensah-Nyagan

My Area of Interest: Functional genomics, Cellular and molecular neuroscience, neurodegenerative diseases, neurosteroids, peripheral neuropathies, pain

My Favourite Quote: Science without conscience is the soul’s perdition. ~François Rabelais, 1572

I am a: Professor at University of Strasbourg, France.

Short Profile:

What are your future goals? Where do you see your research going?:
Make significant progress in the understanding of neurodegenerative mechanisms in order to supply industries with valuable results which can allow the development of new and efficient strategies against neurodegenerative diseases.

Technologies seem to changing faster than ever, how do you adapt to that? What are the current technologies you are using?:
To adapt to the fast change, I use to renew as much as possible research apparatus and technologies in my research group in order to have the most recent and efficient technologies available for our research program.
Real-Time qPCR, shRNA, siRNA, Confocal laser scanning microscopy, HPLC coupled with continuous flow scintillation detection, behavioral analyses in transgenic mice.

In the broader picture, where do you see the application for your cutting-edge research?:
Industries developing drugs against neurodegenerative diseases, peripheral neuropathies and neuropathic pain.

Fast forward to 2020. What’s your vision of Genomics in 2020?:
Genomics should be able to make a breakthrough towards the understanding and the characterization of environmental factors involved in the regulation of gene expression. This will be important to decipher mechanisms involved in diseases related to gene dysregulation.

Name: Sudha Sazawal

My Area of Interest: Functional Genomics

My Favourite Quote: Work is worship

I am a: Senior Scientist

Short Profile:

Question and Answers :

What are your future goals? Where do you see your research going?:
Primarily my work involves routine patient care by monitoring CML patients, treated with Imatinib, by real time PCR for BCR-ABL mRNA This technique has proved effective for defining patient response, hence assure rational therapeutic management of CML patients.
Apart from this it is important to clarify the mechanism underlying the disease progression in CML patients. We therefore plan to characterize the stage progression in different phases of the disease by DNA microarray.

Technologies seem to changing faster than ever, how do you adapt to that? What are the current technologies you are using?:
We are currently using real-time PCR for routine monitoring of CML patients. Our next step is modulation of genes to understand the biology of this disease.

In the broader picture, where do you see the application for your cutting-edge research?:
The application is mainly to elucidate the molecular mechanism responsible for the drug resistance in these patients by understanding the biology of stage progression in these patients. DNA microarray allows characterization of the expression profiles of many genes that might prove informative for stage diagnosis or contribute to stage progression. Thus determining appropriate new therapy to prevent or overcome resistance.

Fast forward to 2020. What’s your vision of Genomics in 2020?:
The growing body of genome information can help in a general way to address global problems by applying a comparative approach. It can help identification of genes for regulatory RNAs or estimation of the contribution of horizontal gene transfer to the genomes that have been analyzed.

Name: Francesco Buonocore

My Area of Interest: Functional Genomics, Transcriptomics

My Favourite Quote: Who does for himself, does for you

I am a:  PhD Senior Researcher and Lecturer of Marine Animal Biotechnology

Short Profile:

Question and Answers :

What are your future goals? Where do you see your research going?:
To investigate more in detail all the aspects of fish immunology linked to T-cell immune responses.
My research should be more linked to practical aspects to search for more funding and, for this reason, try to understand better the effects of vaccination procedure that are very important in aquaculture.

Technologies seem to changing faster than ever, how do you adapt to that? What are the current technologies you are using?:
We are using Q-PCR and micro-array and starting to built up fish proteomics.

In the broader picture, where do you see the application for your cutting-edge research?:
The application of my research could be in aquaculture or in immunology, as fish are an important model for studying the evolution of immune responses within Vertebrates.

Fast forward to 2020. What’s your vision of Genomics in 2020?:
I think that the functional genomics is still to be implemented and need more tools like monoclonal antibodies.

Name: George A. Garinis

My Area of Interest: Functional Genomics of Aging

My Favourite Quote: “Add life into years, not years into life”

I am a: Senior Scientist at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology-FORTH

Short Profile:

Question and Answers :

What are your future goals? Where do you see your research going?:
Our lab aims to use tissue-specific mouse models of accelerated aging and naturally aged mice as an experimentally tractable system to delineate the responses to DNA damage that are most pertinent to segmental progeria and natural aging as well as to identify the natural defense mechanisms that attempt to counteract age-related pathology and prolong lifespan. Investigating a complex process such that of aging, our lab undertakes a systems biology point of view, that is an integration rather than a reduction approach.

Technologies seem to changing faster than ever, how do you adapt to that? What are the current technologies you are using?:
The lab is currently using full genome-wide expression technologies to scan the transcriptome of progeroid and naturally aged mouse models. Following the recent advances in the genomics field, the lab will soon embark on the application of massive parallel sequencing (RNA tags, ChIP-Sequencing e.t.c.). In parallel, we are constantly adapting to the ever-changing technologies concerning a wide range of (bio)informatics applications allowing to extract the maximum possible information from the enormous amount of data generated in our lab.

In the broader picture, where do you see the application for your cutting-edge research?:
The continuous increase of average life span in developed societies is accompanied by the severe loss of quality of life that constitutes a major burden to our health care system. To monitor aging and design rationalized interventions against age-associated pathologies; fundamental knowledge of the aging process is needed. The Garinis laboratory explores the mouse as a mammalian model to study natural as well as accelerated aging. A comprehensive series of mouse mutants harboring effects in various DNA repair pathways have been generated many of which show premature onset of age-related pathologies. Our aim is to obtain a systems-biological view on aging, thereby unraveling the complex molecular mechanisms associated with advanced age. The originality and novelty of this proposal lies in the concept of using progeroid and naturally aged mice as an
experimentally tractable system to test whether DNA damage is a major contributing factor to progeria and natural aging. This study is likely to provide a pioneering groundwork into the basic mechanisms of pathology associated with segmental progeria and normal aging, including insights into the natural defence systems that promote longevity. It will also provide gene targets for further study, including badly needed markers for age-related degenerative processes that could be directly applicable to rationalized drug development and anti-aging
therapeutic approaches.

Fast forward to 2020. What’s your vision of Genomics in 2020?:
Long are the days when the promises of genomics were theoretical and far away. Today, functional genomics is becoming a reality providing insight into the basic principles of life and as a result enables the development of products processes and technologies that can improve prosperity. The Garinis lab envisions a post-genome era in medicine that will concentrate on treating causes rather than symptoms and will be personalized and proactive. In this respect, functional genomics can give us in the years to come the tools to design a “precision healthcare” policy finely tuned to each patient phenotype and genotype.

Name: Sergio comincini

My Area of Interest: Functional genomics

My Favourite Quote: ne quid nimis

I am a: Professor of Neurogenetics

Short Profile:

Question and Answers :

What are your future goals? Where do you see your research going?:
Identify gene sequences involved in human brain tumor malignanti progression

Technologies seem to changing faster than ever, how do you adapt to that? What are the current technologies you are using?:
Sequencing, Gene expression and proteome microarray
Functional assay in vitro and in vivo

In the broader picture, where do you see the application for your cutting-edge research?:
Basic and translational research
Development of gene-therapy appraches

Fast forward to 2020. What’s your vision of Genomics in 2020?:
Microarray-based platforms more diffused and easyly handed. A more complete comparison of genetic diversity, even between humans.