Nathalie Saurat
Nathalie Saurat is currently a Senior Research Scientist working with Dr. Lorenz Studer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Prior to that, she completed her PhD in Dr Rick Livesey’s lab at the University of Cambridge. She is an expert at studying neurodegenerative diseases using human pluripotent stem cells. Her research focuses on understanding what drives cellular aging in the brain and the crosstalk between cellular aging and neurodegeneration.
Seminar:
Date: Monday 6th December 2021, 9 am AEDT
Zoom: https://monash.zoom.us/s/85869339928 Passcode: 231630
Abstract:
Programing age into human stem cell models of Alzheimer’s disease.
Aging is the biggest risk factor for the development of Alzheimer’s disease but the cellular processes underpinning this are poorly understood. We used a combination of transcriptomic studies and whole genome Crispr/Cas9 screening to identify physiological regulators of cellular age in human cortical neurons. Manipulation of these age-associated pathways resulted in a selective loss of viability of Alzheimer’s Disease neurons. Importantly, it also induced cellular changes consistent with accelerated aging including increased cellular senescence, loss of proteostasis, loss of heterochromatin and increased reactive oxygen species. This indicates that crosstalk between cellular aging pathways and disease genetics can drive neuronal loss.
Yingguang Frank Chan
Frank Chan is a Group Leader at the Friedrich Miescher Laboratory, Max Planck Campus Tübingen in Germany. A leader in Evo Devo, his group studies how the genome functions while constantly changing. His work leverages cross-species hybrid stem cells and rapidly evolving populations like the “Longshanks mice” and combines single-cell sequencing, tissue engineering and image analysis. A Hongkonger by origin, Frank earned his BA (Wesleyan University) and PhD (Developmental Biology, Stanford) in the US. In 2013, he started his group in Tübingen, Germany and won an ERC Starting Grant (2015) to work on in vitro crosses.
Seminar:
Date: Monday 6th December 2021, 4 pm AEDT
Zoom: https://monash.zoom.us/s/87137770106 Passcode: 444496
Abstract:
The Long-legged mouse and the Impossible Hybrid – the genetics of evolutionary change
A central goal in biology is understanding how the genome functions and evolves. In our group, we leverage cutting-edge technology to tackle age-old questions of species differences, in order to connect molecular mechanisms with individual variation. I will discuss how we linked individual basepair changes to rapid increase in tibia length in mice (and beyond). I will also discuss our “in vitro cross” hybrid stem cell system to bypass species barrier in mice and man (plus chimpanzees). I will end by highlighting active work to use single-cell multi-omics on tissue/gastruloid to dissect gene network rewiring and its applications in medicine.
Akanksha Jain
I studied Botany (honors) at the Delhi University. After that I moved to the Department of Biological Sciences, TIFR, Mumbai where I studied the Role of Kinesin-2 in odor receptor transport and olfactory maturation of cilia in Drosophila in a three-year Masters by Research program. I did my PhD in the lab of Dr Pavel Tomancak at the MPI-CBG where I worked on tissue morphogenesis and mechanics in the beetle Tribolium castaneum. My current research is focusing on the development and patterning mechanism in human cerebral organoids under the guidance of Prof. Barbara Treutlein at the D-BSSE, ETH-Zurich in Basel, Switzerland.
Seminar:
Date: Monday 6th December 2021, 5 pm AEDT
Zoom: https://monash.zoom.us/s/87137770106 Passcode: 444496
Abstract:
Tissue regionalization in developmental systems : from embryos to organoids
Patterning of tissues to create “regions” is fundamental to multicellular organisms. These regions are categorized by domains of gene expression, morphological similarity, or mechanical properties. I am focusing on the different layers of tissue regionalization and developing methods for in toto descriptions of the associated cellular dynamics, in embryos and organoids. Using longterm lightsheet imaging, scRNAseq and spatial transcriptomics we are studying the mechanisms that pattern cerebral organoids to create heterogenous brain regions and cell types. This integrated framework will be used for understanding the morphodynamics of cerebral organoids development and pave way for future modeling of human brain development and disorders in vitro.
William Roman
After doing my undergraduate at McGill University in Canada, I joined the myograd PhD program between Paris and Berlin. I integrated the laboratory of Dr. Gomes where I investigated how nuclei position themselves during muscle development. I then pursued a post-doc in the laboratory of Dr. Muñoz-Cánoves at the Pompeu Fabra University of Barcelona where I explored a new mechanism of muscle repair. In parallel, I am leading the MyoChip team in Lisbon which aims to build irrigated and innervated muscle in vitro systems. I am now a post-doc in Dr. Boettiger’s lab at Stanford to learn spatial genomics techniques.
Seminar:
Date: Tuesday 7th December 2021, 5 pm AEDT
Zoom: https://monash.zoom.us/s/81831525335 Passcode: 151319
Abstract:
Intercellular communication in muscle development, regeneration and homeostasis
The skeletal muscle cell (myofiber) is a unique cell type. Resulting from the fusion of hundreds of mononucleated myoblasts, it develops into a large, contractile, multinucleated fiber. Thanks to its size, a single myofiber interacts with several other cell types such as neuronal, endothelial, stem and resident cells at specific locations along its length. Myofibers are therefore large platforms mediating several intercellular connections, making them good models to study cell-cell communication at these specialized regions. Using sophisticated in vitro systems with spatial genomics, I aim to explore intercellular exchanges vital for tissue function.