Speakers

        
Dr. Julieta APREA
Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD), School of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden
Dr. Julieta Aprea is a postdoc researcher in the lab of Prof. Federico Calegari. Research in Calegari lab aims to understand the mechanisms controlling the expansion of neural stem cell (NSC) and their switch to neurogenesis. This is important to understand how the brain forms during development and how new neurons are generated throughout life. Controlling neurogenesis can provide us with the means to use NSC to rescue brain deficits associated to aging or disease. Julieta's research aims at identifying novel long non-coding RNAs expressed in the developing cortex.  
 
       
Prof. Pierre CLOSE
Laboratory of Cancer Signaling, GIGA Stem Cells, University of Liège
The Laboratory of Cancer Signaling, led by Prof. Pierre Close, aims to define the importance of codon-specific mRNA translation and optimization of codon decoding in the regulation of selective mRNA translation and protein synthesis during cancer development, progression and resistance to therapy.
 
 
       
Prof. Denis LAFONTAINE
RNA Molecular Biology, Université Libre de Bruxelles
The laboratory of Prof. Denis Lafontaine focuses on ribosome biogenesis. They are characterizing ribosome assembly pathways in human cells and budding yeast. They are particularly interested by RNA processing and modification. Moreover, they are also interested in studying pathophysiological aspects of ribosome biogenesis. They are developing novel nucleolar cancer biomarkers for improved classification of malignancies and patient stratification. They are implementing animal models to study the effects of ribosome assembly dysfunction in development.
 

       
Prof. Eleonora LEUCCI
Laboratory for RNA Cancer Biology, Department of Oncology, KU Leuven
The Laboratory for RNA Cancer Biology, led by Prof. Eleonora Leucci, is interested in studying RNA metabolism in cancer. In particular they aim at characterising long non-coding RNAs important for cancer development and progression. Towards this they apply cutting edge molecular biology and biochemistry techniques coupled to in vivo PDX studies, with the ultimate goal of identifying novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets.
           

       
Prof. Pieter MESTDAGH
OncoRNAlab, Cancer Research Institute Ghent, Center for Medical Genetics, Ghent university
The OncoRNALab is supervised by Prof. Jo Vandesompele and Prof. Pieter Mestdagh. The lab’s research aims to exploit RNA for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. The various research lines converge on studying the role of non-coding RNA in cancer and on the utility of extracellular RNA in liquid biopsies. Through a combination of high-throughput (functional) genomics technologies and bio-informatics tools, they seek to answer various fundamental and translational research questions.
 
         
Dr. Antonin MORILLON
ncRNA, Epigenetic and Genome Fluidity, Institut Curie, Sorbonne Université, Paris (France)
Dr. Antonin Morillon's research interest is focused on non-coding RNAs, representing the “dark matter” of the genome. In eukaryotes, non-coding RNAs have been shown to regulate gene expression, chromatin domains and genome stability. A growing number of evidence suggests that they play central roles on cancer development and cellular differentiation. His lab was one of the first to describe lncRNA-mediated epigenetic regulation controlling transposon proliferation and gene expression in the budding yeast providing powerful genetic and large scale tools to uncover their regulatory mechanisms in this classic model organism.
 
       
Dr. Sébastien PFEFFER
Architecture and Reactivity of RNA, Institut de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire du CNRS, Université de Strasbourg
The laboratory of Dr. Sébastien Pfeffer is interested in the interplay of viruses with the RNA silencing machinery. Their work aims at studying the roles and properties of non-coding RNAs during virus-related diseases. More specifically, they focus their research on miRNAs and herpesviruses such as Kaposi’s sarcoma associated herpesvirus, Epstein Barr virus and cytomegalovirus. Their two main research axes are: (1) identification of targets of viral and cellular miRNAs and (2) roles of non-coding RNAs in a physiologically relevant viral infection.
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