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Present Post: Previous Positions Held: Honors/Awards Membership In
CURRICULUM VITAE Name: Vassilis Pachnis, M.D., Ph.D., FMedSci Date of Birth: 24 January 1953 Place of Birth: Athens, Greece Contact details: National Institute for Medical Research Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology The Ridgeway, Mill Hill, Foundation for Research and Technology‐Hellas London NW7 1AA, UK. N. Plastira 100, GR‐70013, Heraklion, Greece tel. (+44) 02088162113 Tel. (+30) 2810391100 email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Education: July 1980 University of Athens Medical School (Athens, Greece) M.D. magna cum laude June 1986 University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (USA) Degree: Ph.D., Genetics Supervisor: Prof. Shirley Tilghman Nov 1986 – Mar 1988 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Center for Neurobiology and Behavior Columbia University, New York, NY (USA) Postdoctoral Fellow in Prof. Richard Axel's laboratory Apr 1988 – May 1991 Department of Genetics and Development Columbia University, New York, NY (USA) Postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Frank Costantini's laboratory Present Post: ‐ Head of Division of Molecular Neurobiology, National Institute for Medical Research, Medical Research Council (London, UK) ‐ Director of the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology of the Foundation for Research and Technology‐Hellas (Heraklion, Greece) Previous positions held: May 1991 – Feb 1997 Senior Scientific Staff, Group Leader, MRC National Institute for Medical Research, London (5/91‐2/97) Feb 1997 – Aug 2000 Tenured Senior Scientist, MRC National Institute for Medical Research, London Honors/Awards ‐ Scholarship from the National Scholarship Foundation of Greece for Academic excellence in Medical School ‐ Special Fellowship Award from the Leukemia Society of America (Jul 1989‐May 1991) ‐ Janssen Award for Life Time Achievement in Gastroenterology (2002) Membership in Academies ‐ Elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, UK (2000). -
Biology Powerhouse Raises Railway Alarm
NEWS IN FOCUS to enrol all participants by 2018. Certain factors make researchers optimis- tic that the British study will succeed where the US one failed. One is the National Health Service, which provides care for almost all pregnant women and their children in the United Kingdom, and so offers a centralized means of recruiting, tracing and collecting medical information on study participants. In the United States, by contrast, medical care is provided by a patchwork of differ- ent providers. “I think that most researchers in the US recognize that our way of doing population-based research here is simply different from the way things can be done in the UK and in Europe, and it will almost always be more expensive here,” says Mark Klebanoff, a paediatric epidemiologist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Colum- bus, Ohio, who was involved in early dis- cussions about the US study. The Francis Crick Institute sits at the nexus of three central London railway hubs. At one stage, US researchers had planned to knock on doors of random houses looking URBAN SCIENCE for women to enrol before they were even pregnant. “It became obvious that that wasn’t going to be a winning formula,” says Philip Pizzo, a paediatrician at Stanford University Biology powerhouse in Palo Alto, California, who co-chaired the working group that concluded that the National Children’s Study was not feasible. raises railway alarm “The very notion that someone was going to show up on your doorstep as a representa- tive from a government-funded study and Central London’s Francis Crick Institute fears that proposed say ‘Are you thinking of getting pregnant?’ train line will disrupt delicate science experiments. -
Bloomsbury Scientists Ii Iii
i Bloomsbury Scientists ii iii Bloomsbury Scientists Science and Art in the Wake of Darwin Michael Boulter iv First published in 2017 by UCL Press University College London Gower Street London WC1E 6BT Available to download free: www.ucl.ac.uk/ ucl- press Text © Michael Boulter, 2017 Images courtesy of Michael Boulter, 2017 A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. This book is published under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Non-derivative 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). This license allows you to share, copy, distribute and transmit the work for personal and non-commercial use providing author and publisher attribution is clearly stated. Attribution should include the following information: Michael Boulter, Bloomsbury Scientists. London, UCL Press, 2017. https://doi.org/10.14324/111.9781787350045 Further details about Creative Commons licenses are available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ ISBN: 978- 1- 78735- 006- 9 (hbk) ISBN: 978- 1- 78735- 005- 2 (pbk) ISBN: 978- 1- 78735- 004- 5 (PDF) ISBN: 978- 1- 78735- 007- 6 (epub) ISBN: 978- 1- 78735- 008- 3 (mobi) ISBN: 978- 1- 78735- 009- 0 (html) DOI: https:// doi.org/ 10.14324/ 111.9781787350045 v In memory of W. G. Chaloner FRS, 1928– 2016, lecturer in palaeobotany at UCL, 1956– 72 vi vii Acknowledgements My old writing style was strongly controlled by the measured precision of my scientific discipline, evolutionary biology. It was a habit that I tried to break while working on this project, with its speculations and opinions, let alone dubious data. But my old practices of scientific rigour intentionally stopped personalities and feeling showing through. -
BSCB Newsletter 2017D
2017 BSCB Newsletter BRITISH SOCIETY FOR CELL BIOLOGY Meet the new BSCB President Royal Opening of the Crick Meeting reports 2017 CONTENTS BSCB Newsletter News 2 Book reviews 7 Features 8 Meeting Reports 24 Summer students 30 Society Business 33 Editorial Welcome to the 2017 BSCB newsletter. After several meeting hosted several well received events for our Front cover: years of excellent service, Kate Nobes has stepped PhD and Postdoc members, which we discuss on The head of a Drosophila pupa. The developing down and handed the reins over to me. I’ve enjoyed page 5. Our PhD and Postdoc reps are working hard compound eye (green) is putting together this years’ newsletter. It’s been great to make the event bigger and better for next year! The composed of several hundred simple units called ommatidia to hear what our members have been up to, and I social events were well attended including the now arranged in an extremely hope you will enjoy reading it. infamous annual “Pub Quiz” and disco after the regular array. The giant conference dinner. Members will be relieved to know polyploidy cells of the fat body (red), the fly equivalent of the The 2016 BSCB/DB spring meeting, organised by our we aren’t including any photos from that here. mammalian liver and adipose committee members Buzz Baum (UCL), Silke tissue, occupy a big area of the Robatzek and Steve Royle, had a particular focus on In this issue, we highlight the great work the BSCB head. Cells and Tissue Architecture, Growth & Cell Division, has been doing to engage young scientists. -
NCI RAS Initiative Update
Ras Initiative Update Frank McCormick and Levi Garraway DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES • National Institutes of Health • National Cancer Institute The Frederick National Laboratory is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center operated by Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., for the National Cancer Institute RAS Initiative Accomplishments: Evaluating Ras dependency 2 SiREN assay for Ras dependency SiREN assay for Ras dependency 70% KD siEGFP 0-10% KD 50% KD 100% KD SiREN assay for Ras dependency RAS Initiative Accomplishments: Biophysical and structural analysis 7 Ras proteins 1 -166 167-185,6 Raf, PI 3’ kinase RalGDS, GAPs Raf, PI 3’ kinase RalGDS, GAPs Raf, PI 3’ kinase RalGDS, GAPs Raf, PI 3’ kinase RalGDS, GAPs Palmitoyl Farnesyl Fully processed KRAS4b A. Gorfe, U-Texas Houston Engineering baculovirus for improved production of processed KRAS • recombineering used to insert FNTA/FNTB genes into the baculovirus genome • eliminated issues with coinfection of multiple viruses • maltose-binding protein (MBP) fusion for greater yield and solubility • Trichoplusia ni (Hi5) insect cells for increased yield Carissa Grose, Dom Esposito, Bill Gillette Processed KRAS4b characterization • Extensive protein characterization – Purified to homogeneity; yield >7mg/L – Intact mass – Predominantly monomeric – Secondary structure equivalent to non-processed KRAS4b KRAS4b- FME – Lower thermal stability Intact mass analysis Analytical ultracentrifugation Secondary structure by CD 2.14 S 25.7 kDa 10 Bill Gillette, Zhaojing Meng, Shelley Perkins, -
Miriam Molina Arcas
CV Miriam Molina Arcas Miriam Molina Arcas Principal Laboratory Research Scientist The Francis Crick Institute 1 Midland Road, NW1 1AT London +442037963313 [email protected] EDUCATION 1999-2005 PhD in Biomedicine, University of Barcelona, Spain Role of equilibrative nucleoside transporters in the sensitivity to antineoplasic drugs. Supervisors: Prof. Marçal Pastor-Anglada and Dr. F. Javier Casado 1994-1999 BSc Biochemistry, University of Barcelona, Spain RESEARCH AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE June 2016- present Senior Laboratory Research Scientist, Oncogene Biology Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute. Prof. Julian Downward. Studied combination approaches that improve the efficacy of KRAS inhibitors and reduce resistance mechanisms. March 2015- May 2016 Postdoctoral Fellow, Lung Cancer Team, Institute of Cancer Research. Prof. Julian Downward. Designed and optimized a whole-genome shRNA screen to identify synthetic lethal interactions with MEK and IGF1R inhibitors. Sep 2008- Feb 2015 Postdoctoral Fellow, Signal Transduction Laboratory, Cancer Research UK- London Research Institute. Prof. Julian Downward Using RNA interfering and drug screens, identified new therapeutic strategies to treat tumours harbouring KRAS mutations 2006- Aug 2008 Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Barcelona, Spain Prof. Marçal Pastor-Anglada Studied the role of membrane transporters in nucleoside-derived drug response in cancer and HIV. TEACHING AND MENTORING EXPERIENCE 2018-2021 Honorary Research Associate in the School of Life & Medical Sciences, University College London, part of the Certificate in Core Teaching Practices. 2007-2008 Part-time lecturer of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (University of Barcelona). 180h of theory and practical lessons. 2003-2005 Teaching assistant of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (University of Barcelona). 60h of practical lessons. September 2019 Co-supervisor of MSc Experimental Pharmacology and Therapeutics Research of Pablo Romero Clavijo at the University College London. -
Programme Final (1).Pages
BSHS Postgraduate Conference 2015 Programme !1 The British Society for the History of Science is a company limited by guarantee: registration number 562208 and charity number 258854. BSHS Executive Secretary PO Box 3401, Norwich NR7 7JF (+44) 01603516236 Email: offi[email protected] Webpage: www.bshs.org.uk © 2014, British Society for the History of Science !2 BSHS POSTGRADUATE CONFERENCE UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies 7 – 8 – 9 JANUARY 2015 The Department of Science and Technology Studies at University College London welcomes you to the BSHS Postgraduate Conference 2015! This event is an annual conference for postgraduate scholars in the history, philosophy and sociology of science, technology and medicine interested in meeting and sharing research with other postgraduate scholars. This is a great opportunity to build professional and social networks within a supportive and constructive environment. We had an outstanding response for paper submissions and postgraduate attendance, and we are looking forward to an extraordinary conference this year. Thank you for your contribution! Sincerely, BSHS Postgraduate Conference 2015 Committee Elizabeth Jones Raquel Velho Erman Sozudogru !3 " !4 Blue: Grey: Yellow: Grant Museum of Zoology UCL Roberts Building Holiday Inn Bloomsbury 21 University Street Torrington Place Coram Street London WC1E 6DE London WC1E 7JE London WC1N 1HT CONFERENCE INFORMATION Webpage: http://www.bshs.org.uk/conferences/postgraduate-conference/2015- postgraduate-conference-ucl Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BSHS.PG.15 -
Unveiling New Disease, Pathway, and Gene Associations Via Multi-Scale Neural Networks
Unveiling new disease, pathway, and gene associations via multi-scale neural networks Thomas Gaudelet 1, No¨elMalod-Dognin 2, Jon S´anchez-Valle 2, Vera Pancaldi 2,3,4, Alfonso Valencia 2,5,6 and NataˇsaPrˇzulj 2,5,∗ 1 Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT 2 Department of Life Sciences, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Barcelona, 08034 Spain 3 Centre de Recherches en Canc´erologiede Toulouse (CRCT), UMR1037 Inserm, ERL5294 CNRS, 31037 Toulouse, France 4 University Paul Sabatier III, Toulouse, France 5 ICREA, Pg. Llu´ısCompanys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain 6 Coordination Node. Spanish National Bioinformatics Institute, ELIXIR-Spain (INB, ELIXIR-ES), Spain ∗ [email protected]. Abstract Diseases involve complex modifications to the cellular machinery. The gene expression profile of the affected cells contains characteristic patterns linked to a disease. Hence, new biological knowledge about a disease can be extracted from these profiles, improving our ability to diagnose and assess disease risks. This knowledge can be used for drug re-purposing, or by physicians to evaluate a patient's condition and co-morbidity risk. Here, we consider differential gene expressions obtained by microarray technology for patients diagnosed with various diseases. Based on these data and cellular multi-scale organization, we aim at uncovering disease{disease, disease{gene and disease{pathway associations. We propose a neural network with structure based on the multi- scale organization of proteins in a cell into biological pathways. We show that this model is able to correctly predict the diagnosis for the majority of patients. Through the analysis of the trained model, we predict disease{ disease, disease{pathway, and disease{gene associations and validate the predictions by comparisons to known interactions and literature search, proposing putative explanations for the predictions. -
Fellows Opted out of the Mentoring Programme As of 21 July 2020 1 of 3 Professor Chris Abell FRS Fmedsci Professor Philip Jones
Fellows opted out of the Mentoring programme as of 21 July 2020 Professor Chris Abell FRS FMedSci Professor Philip Jones FMedSci Professor David Adams FMedSci Professor Roger Jones FMedSci Professor Judith Allen FRSE FMedSci Professor Kamlesh Khunti FMedSci Professor Thomas Kirkwood CBE Professor Desmond Archer OBE FMedSci FMedSci Professor Louise Arseneault FMedSci Professor Robb Krumlauf FMedSci Professor Charalambos Kyriacou Professor Michael Arthur FMedSci FMedSci Professor Deborah Ashby OBE FMedSci Sir Peter Lachmann FRS FMedSci Professor Dame Frances Ashcroft DBE Professor Leon Lagnado FMedSci FRS FMedSci Professor Anthony Barrett FRS FMedSci Professor Ajit Lalvani FMedSci Professor Gillian Bates FRS FMedSci Professor Deborah Lawlor CBE FMedSci Professor Facundo Batista FMedSci Professor Joy Lawn FMedSci Professor Stephan Beck FMedSci Professor Susan Lea FMedSci Professor Jill Belch OBE FMedSci Professor Sir Robert Lechler PMedSci Professor Sir John Bell GBE FRS Dr Melanie Lee CBE FMedSci HonFREng FMedSci Professor Wendy Bickmore FRS FRSE Professor Andrew Lees FMedSci FMedSci Professor Sir Adrian Bird CBE FRS FRSE Professor Stafford Lightman FRS FMedSci FMedSci Professor Ewan Birney CBE FRS Professor Janet Lord FMedSci FMedSci Professor Dorothy Bishop FRS FBA Professor Thomas MacDonald FMedSci FMedSci Professor Rona MacKie CBE FRSE Professor Jane Blazeby FMedSci Sir Stephen Bloom FRS FMedSci Professor Giovanna Mallucci FMedSci Sir Tom Blundell FRS FMedSci Dr Fiona Marshall FMedSci Professor Dame Theresa Marteau DBE Professor Peter -
Uclpartners Academic Health Science Partnership
UCLPartners academic health science partnership Professor the Lord Ajay Kakkar, Chair, UCLPartners Professor Sir David Fish, Managing Director, UCLPartners Dr Charlie Davie, Director of UCLPartners AHSN Clare Panniker, Chief Executive, Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust What is UCLPartners? Six million population 23 healthcare organisations acute and 11 higher education institutes mental health trusts; community providers and research networks 20 Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) Industry partnerships in research and 26 boroughs and local councils translation of innovation into health and wealth 2 Local Enterprise Partnership – key challenge • Working with the London Enterprise Panel, established by the Mayor of London • Professor Stephen Caddick, Vice Provost (Enterprise), UCL, is the only academic representative on the Panel • Key challenges of the panel: to compete with Boston and San Francisco; improve access to the NHS market to increase venture capital • How UCLPartners is contributing: working with industry to co-create technology and devices; creating long-term partnerships with industry and giving confidence to entrepreneurs, e.g. through new business models and procurement initiatives • Other areas of joint working: MedCity, Care City, London Health Commission, three London AHSNs and preparing to enable the success of the Francis Crick Institute 3 Defragmenting the pathway – an integrated journey to transform healthcare through innovation into practice Bringing together formal designations under -
Linking Neurons to Immunity: Lessons from Hydra COMMENTARY Yuuki Obataa and Vassilis Pachnisa,1
COMMENTARY Linking neurons to immunity: Lessons from Hydra COMMENTARY Yuuki Obataa and Vassilis Pachnisa,1 According to the Greek mythology (1), Heracles’ sec- Hydra offers unique advantages to neuroscience re- ond labor was the destruction of the Lernaean Hydra, search as well. Its nervous system is an anatomically a fearsome fire-breathing monster with a dog-like simple network of sensory and ganglion neurons body and nine snake heads. Many had tried to slay that control a range of behaviors, including sponta- the Lernaean Hydra but in vain: Any head that was neous body contractions (5, 6). Remarkably, the an- cut off regrew and multiplied. It is remarkable how atomical organization and functional output of consistent the narrative of this myth is with our recent Hydra’s nervous system are reminiscent of the intrin- understanding of tissue and organ regeneration. Her- sic neural networks of the gastrointestinal tract in acles was successful not only because of his divine vertebrates, known as the enteric nervous system origin (he was the son of Zeus after all) and the help (ENS). The ENS is an assembly of nerve cells within of Athena, but particularly because of the assistance the gut wall, which are organized into the ganglia he received from his nephew Iolaus, who was assigned of the myenteric and submucosal plexus (7) and regu- the job of cauterizing the exposed stumps of the Hy- late most intestinal functions, including coordination of dra’s severed heads. Of course, we now understand smooth muscle contractions, the basis of intestinal why Iolaus’ contribution was so critical: His flame con- peristalsis (8). -
EMBC Annual Report 2007
EMBO | EMBC annual report 2007 EUROPEAN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY ORGANIZATION | EUROPEAN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY CONFERENCE EMBO | EMBC table of contents introduction preface by Hermann Bujard, EMBO 4 preface by Tim Hunt and Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, EMBO Council 6 preface by Marja Makarow and Isabella Beretta, EMBC 7 past & present timeline 10 brief history 11 EMBO | EMBC | EMBL aims 12 EMBO actions 2007 15 EMBC actions 2007 17 EMBO & EMBC programmes and activities fellowship programme 20 courses & workshops programme 21 young investigator programme 22 installation grants 23 science & society programme 24 electronic information programme 25 EMBO activities The EMBO Journal 28 EMBO reports 29 Molecular Systems Biology 30 journal subject categories 31 national science reviews 32 women in science 33 gold medal 34 award for communication in the life sciences 35 plenary lectures 36 communications 37 European Life Sciences Forum (ELSF) 38 ➔ 2 table of contents appendix EMBC delegates and advisers 42 EMBC scale of contributions 49 EMBO council members 2007 50 EMBO committee members & auditors 2007 51 EMBO council members 2008 52 EMBO committee members & auditors 2008 53 EMBO members elected in 2007 54 advisory editorial boards & senior editors 2007 64 long-term fellowship awards 2007 66 long-term fellowships: statistics 82 long-term fellowships 2007: geographical distribution 84 short-term fellowship awards 2007 86 short-term fellowships: statistics 104 short-term fellowships 2007: geographical distribution 106 young investigators 2007 108 installation