Speakers-2023

Conference Speakers

Keynote Speakers

Rachel Green (Johns Hopkins University, USA).

IUBMB Jubilee Lecture.

Research in the Green laboratory focuses on examining the molecular mechanisms of translation and their implications for gene regulation. This includes the study of the diverse aspects of translation and its regulation in different systems, with a recent focus on defining the molecular mechanisms that specify the high fidelity of protein synthesis during translation.

Alexander van Oudenaarden (Hubrecht Institute, The Netherlands).

The Van Oudenaarden group uses a combination of experimental, computational, and theoretical approaches to quantitatively understand decision‐making in single cells, with a focus on questions in developmental and stem cell biology.

Confirmed Speakers
(Alphabetical order; subject to change)

Britt Adamson (Princeton University, USA)

The Adamson lab studies the organization and function of molecular networks in human cells, with particular focus on understanding (a) how cells differentially leverage these networks to respond to stress and (b) how abnormal programs of stress response contribute to disease. The lab also develop and improve innovative technologies for genetics and cell biology, including those with potential therapeutic applications such as genome editing.

Paulo P. Amaral (INSPER - Institute of Education and Research, Brazil)

Dr. Amaral's research has been focused on regulatory networks involving non-coding RNAs and their covalent modifications during embryonic development, and in stem cells and disease. Current research in the Amaral group is at the intersection of molecular biology and bioengineering, for the development of analytical tools and techniques for the study of biomolecules.

Benjamin Blencowe (University of Toronto, Canada).

Research in the Blencowe lab focuses on mechanisms underlying the regulation of gene expression and how these mechanisms are disrupted in human diseases and disorders. Most of their research is directed at understanding how alternative splicing is regulated and integrated with other layers of gene expression to control fundamental biological processes.

Paulo Canessa (Universidad Andrés Bello, Chile).

The Canessa lab is interested in understanding the role of the environment in modulating the outcome of plant-pathogen interactions.

Natalia de Miguel (Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany).

The Müller-McNicoll group studies a family of nuclear RNA binding proteins called SR proteins, which bind to specific sites in pre-mRNAs during transcription and regulate constitutive and alternative splicing.

María Ana Duhagon (Universidad de la República, Uruguay).

The Duhagon group uses genomics, and cell and molecular biology approaches to study non-coding RNAs in prostate cancer.

Mariana Gómez-Schiavón (International Laboratory for Human Genome Research (LIIGH), UNAM, Mexico).

The Gómez-Schiavon group aims to understand how the dynamic properties of gene regulatory circuits emerge, proliferate and persist through natural selection. They do this by combining evolutionary theory, population genetics, and biophysical models of gene regulatory circuits..

Selene L. Fernandez-Valverde (Unidad de Genómica Avanzada, Langebio, Mexico)

The Fernandez-Valverde group studies the evolutionary dynamics of non-coding RNA molecules using a variety of plant and animal species with diverse evolutionary scales. They use bioinformatic and genomic data analysis tools to understand the evolution of these molecules and the regulatory mechanisms in which they participate.

Luis F. Larrondo (P. Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile).

The Larrondo lab is interested in elucidating the mechanisms underlying the circadian control of gene expression, through a combination of classic molecular and cell biology techniques and synthetic biology approaches.

Martin Lercher (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico).

The Computational Cell Biology group is interested in the molecular organization and evolution of cellular systems, in particular metabolism. Their major aim is to understand design principles that arise from the optimization of complex systems through natural selection.

Pablo Manavella (Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Argentina).

The goal of the Manavella lab is to elucidate the intricate mechanisms regulating miRNA biogenesis and activity.

Jennifer E. Phillips-Cremins (University of Pennsylvania, USA).

The Cremins lab aims to understand how chromatin works through long-range physical folding mechanisms to encode neuronal specification and long-term synaptic plasticity in healthy and diseased neural circuits.

Geraldine Seydoux (Johns Hopkins University, USA).

The Seydoux lab studies how single-cell embryos localize RNAs and proteins to pattern developmental potential. They use genetics, microscopy, and biochemistry to identify, observe, and manipulate RNAs and proteins in and out of cells.

Alexander Stark (Research Institute of Molecular Pathology, Austria).

The aim of the Stark group is to understand how transcription is regulated at the level of the two key types of regulatory genomic elements – enhancers and core-promoters – and the transcription factor and cofactor proteins that mediate transcription activation.

Juan Pablo Tosar (Universidad de la República, Uruguay)

Research in the Tosar lab is focused on the development of new nucleic acids / protein detection techniques in biological samples, with emphasis in liquid biopsies. They then try to use these techniques in RNA-based molecular diagnosis and to understand the role of extracellular RNAs in intercellular communication.

Eugene Valkov (National Cancer Institute, USA).

The overall scientific goal of the Messenger RNA Regulation and Decay laboratory is to deepen our understanding of the molecular events that determine whether messenger RNA (mRNA) is destroyed, stored in the cytoplasm, or translated into protein.

Elena A. Vidal (Universidad Mayor, Chile).

The Vidal group studies how plants adapt and respond to the environment, using genomics and systems biology approaches.

Justin W. Walley (Iowa State University, USA).

The Walley lab investigates molecular mechanisms that underpin plant growth, development, and environmental responses. They specialize in mass spectrometry based proteomics to globally quantify protein abundance and post-translational modifications.

Itai Yanai (NYU School of Medicine, USA).

Research in the Yanai lab focuses on the interface of gene expression, development, and evolution. The group is interested in exploring how developmental pathways evolve at the molecular level, for which they carry out intricate embryological experiments at the level of individual cells and apply computational approaches to explore the resulting data.