Topic: Genomics

While genomics initiatives have generated large amounts of data, gaining clinically relevant insights from this data is challenging. This symposium will showcase multi-omics approaches to functional characterization of candidate cancer drug targets. Researchers will discuss how deep data analyses and high-throughput approaches are reshaping our understanding of cancer biology and impacting clinical oncology.

The Symposium is organized by Cell Press (Cell and Cancer Cell) and the Cancer Target Discovery and Development (CTD²) Network—an NCI initiative for bridging the knowledge gap between large-scale genomic datasets and the underlying etiology of cancer development, progression, and metastasis. There is a government registration rate for NIH/NCI staff and content will be available online both live and via on-demand archive.

Dr. Daniela S. Gerhard, who sadly and suddenly passed away this summer, was the premier architect of this symposium and on a grander scale, the CTD² Network. In recognition and appreciation of Dr. Gerhard’s immense efforts and dedication to many of NCI’s genomics initiatives, the Symposium will feature a memorial session delivered by Drs. Louis Staudt and Stuart Schreiber.

As a continuation of the NHGRI seminar series focused on the “Bold Predictions for Human Genomics by 2030,” please join us for the eighth seminar in the series on Monday, October 4 from 3:00 – 4:30 pm ET. This seminar will focus on Bold Prediction #8: A person’s complete genome sequence along with informative annotations can be securely and readily accessible on their smartphone. Dr. Gillian Hooker of Concert Genetics and Dr. Michael Schatz of Johns Hopkins University will use this prediction as an aspirational theme for their talks, highlighting their own work in the context of that theme and speculating about the next decade in their areas. The talks will be followed by a moderated question-and-answer session. All seminars will be open to the public and recorded for posting on GenomeTV.

Speaker: Tali Mazor, Ph.D., Scientist, Knowledge Systems Group, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Tali Mazor, Ph.D., of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute will discuss the functions and features of the cBioPortal for Cancer Genomics. This open-source software platform offers an interactive tool for exploring large-scale cancer genomics data sets through a user-friendly interface. Using cBioPortal, researchers can integrate genomic and clinical data and have access to a suite of visualization and analysis options, including cohort/patient-level visualization, mutation visualization, survival analysis, and alteration enrichment analysis.

The cBioPortal for Cancer Genomics is an open-source software platform that enables interactive, exploratory analysis of large-scale cancer genomics data sets with a user-friendly interface. It integrates genomic and clinical data, and provides a suite of visualization and analysis options, including cohort and patient-level visualization, mutation visualization, survival analysis and alteration enrichment analysis. Features of the portal include OncoPrints, a compact graphical representation of alterations in multiple genes across a cohort, mutational diagrams that show locations and frequencies of mutations in a single gene, subgroup definition and comparison, Kaplan-Meier survival curves, plots that allow the visualization of correlation between different data types (e.g. the correlation between DNA copy number and mRNA expression for a gene of interest), among others. To facilitate interpretation, the cBioPortal also integrates data from several leading knowledgebases and computational resources.

This webinar will introduce basic exploratory, analytic and visualization features of the cBioPortal, as well as several advanced features, including:
– Exploring data with study view
– Running and modifying queries
– OncoPrints, mutation diagrams, survival analysis, enrichment analysis
– Resources integrated into the cBioPortal
– Working with different data types, including mutations, copy number, mRNA expression and protein levels
– Onco Query Language
– Resources to get additional help

Please plan to attend the Physician-Scientist Early Investigator Program (PEIP) seminar by:

Nicholas Rydzewski, M.D.

University of Wisconsin

Dr. Rydzewski is currently Chief Resident in the Radiation Oncology Residency Program at the University of Wisconsin. He is deeply committed to advancing the use of artificial intelligence and liquid biopsies to better inform precision cancer therapy approaches for patients before and following radiation. This is a significant and timely arena for translational research with great promise to advance the discipline of Radiation Oncology over the years to come.

Presenter:

Trevor Bedford, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division
Human Biology Division
Herbold Computational Biology Program
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Genomic epidemiology has enabled critical insights during the COVID-19 pandemic.  At the forefront of these insights has been SARS-CoV-2’s remarkable potential for adaptive evolution.  Dr. Bedford will discuss the evolutionary dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 with a focus on the emergence of variant of concern and variant of interest viruses.  He will characterize mutational patterns in these variant viruses and chart their spread across geographies.  He also will provide a larger perspective on genomic surveillance, projected future viral circulation patterns, and strategies for ongoing pandemic management.

Dr. Bedford is an associate professor in the vaccine and infectious disease division, the human biology division, and the Herbold Computational Biology Program at Fred Hutch.  The Bedford lab studies the rapid spread and evolution of viruses, including those that cause COVID-19, influenza, Ebola, and Zika.  Bedford’s visual representations of viral family trees are used to show how the fate of dangerous outbreaks is often determined by the genetics of the infectious agent, human behavior, and geography.

Link now to https://videocast.nih.gov/ical.ics?live=43795 to add this to your Outlook calendar.  Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits will be available; the code will be announced at the start of the lecture.