Weekly Colloquium on Problems in the Biology of Complex Diseases

Friday, March 29, 2019 - 9:00am to 11:00am
Event Location: 

University of Arizona BIO5 Institute, Room 103
Thomas W. Keating Bioresearch Building
1657 E. Helen St.
Tucson, AZ 85721

Brought to you by the Arizona Center for the Biology of Complex Diseases (ABCD) at the University of Arizona:

TOPIC“Single Cell Approaches to Gene Regulation Studies”
SPEAKER: Darren Cusanovich, MD  — Research Assistant Professor, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, UA College of Medicine – Tucson; and Assistant Research Scientist, Asthma & Airway Disease Research Center, UA Health Sciences
WHEN: Friday, March 29, 2018 | 9-11 a.m.
WHERE: BIO5 Room 103

Weekly Colloquium, Spring 2019 – Problems in the Biology of Complex Diseases
(CMM, MCB, GENE, IMB, PCOL 595H)
Fridays, 9-11 a.m., Keating/BIO5 Room 103, Jan. 11-April 26 (except for March 1, 9-11 a.m., Keating/BIO5 Room 247)

SPEAKERS SCHEDULE: Click here [PDF] for a printable schedule for the entire series.

About the Speaker
Dr. Darren Casnovich's lab is interested in understanding how the human genome regulates itself to bring about all of the cellular diversity present in our bodies. In addition, he and his team are interested in how genetic variation and environmental exposures in human populations impact that regulation and sometimes leads to complex disease. The particular disease model that they focus on is asthma, a complex disease affecting about 10-20 percent of the population that involves many cell types of the lung and immune system and offers exquisitely detailed examples of gene-environment interactions that influence disease outcomes. To study these phenomena, his team uses single-cell genomics technologies so that they can evaluate the impact of genetic and environmental variability from the perspective of whole tissues rather than having to isolate individual cell types or use simplistic cellular models. Working at the nexus of functional genomics, computational biology, and cellular biology, his group is both experimental and computational and often has to develop novel technologies or methods to address research questions. Learn more at Dr. Cusanovich's lab website.

Learn more about this lecture series.

The underlying assumption, supported by much emerging evidence, is that these shared components are features that define the mechanistic architecture of complex diseases as a group. The goal of the Colloquium is to provide a platform that will catalyze broad, expert discussions on these foundational topics, thereby fostering the emergence of a new experimental and conceptual paradigm in complex disease biology.

For further information, contact ABCD Director Donata Vercelli, MD, colloquium organizer: donata@email.arizona.edu