Name: James Adjaye

My Area of Interest: functional genomics of human embryonic stem cells

My Favourite Quote: Never give up till you succeed

I am a:Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics- Berlin

Short Profile:

Dr James Adjaye is Group Leader of the molecular embryology and aging group in Prof. Hans Lehrach’s department at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics- Berlin.
He is an expert in analysing the molecular basis of pluripotency and self-renewal of human ES cells using a functional genomics approach. He is also interested in the generation and characterisation of individualised healthy and diseased (Alzheimer) iPS cells with the goal of differentiating these into hepatocyte-like cells for the application of drug testing and discovery.
Dr Adjaye graduated in Biochemistry from University College Cardiff in Wales, followed by a Ph.D at Kings College London. He moved to the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, in Goettingen, Germany in 1992 and between 1996 - 2001, worked as a Senior Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute of Child Health, University College London.

http://www.molgen.mpg.de/~molemb/
http://goblet.molgen.mpg.de/cgi-bin/stemcell/pluripotency.cgi

Question and Answers :

What are your future goals? Where do you see your research going?:
One of my golas is the generation and characterisation of individualised healthy and diseased (Alzheimer) iPS cells with the goal of differentiating these into hepatocyte-like cells for the application of drug testing and discovery. This would be the road to personalised medicine.

Technologies seem to changing faster than ever, how do you adapt to that? What are the current technologies you are using?:
Microarray-based gene expression profiling
CHIP-Chip
CHIP-Seq
Next -generation sequencing- Solexa

In the broader picture, where do you see the application for your cutting-edge research?:
In personalised medicine

Fast forward to 2020. What’s your vision of Genomics in 2020?:
genomics would be a thing of the past- we will be talking of metabolomics, glycomics, proteomics

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Name: Caterina la porta

My Area of Interest: stem cell, melanoma, cell biology

My Favourite Quote: “It has never been my object to record my dreams, just to realize them” Man Ray

I am a: Research associate professor of General Pathology

Short Profile:

Question and Answers :

What are your future goals? Where do you see your research going?:
I am investigating the molecular biology of cancer stem cells. The goal is to identify biomarkers useful for diagnostic purpose and to develop new therapeutic strategies in particular for one of the most aggressive tumor, melanoma.

Technologies seem to changing faster than ever, how do you adapt to that? What are the current technologies you are using?:
aCGH, system biology

In the broader picture, where do you see the application for your cutting-edge research?:
In the diagnostic and therapeutic strategies and in pharmacogenomics

Fast forward to 2020. What’s your vision of Genomics in 2020?:
Post-proteomic will be the future as well as the investigation of the relationship between different genes at transcriptional-transductional level.