NHGRI Division of Intramural Research Seminar Series

K. Sean Kimbro, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Biomedical and Biological Sciences
Director, Integrated Bioscience Ph.D. Program
JLC Biomedical Biotechnology Research Institute
North Carolina Central University

Hosts: Shawn Burgess and Ariel Williams

* Co-hosted by the Genomics and Health Disparities Lecture Series

Eduardo Tarazona-Santos, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Genetics, Ecology and Evolution
Institute of Biological Sciences
Federal University of Minas Gerais
Brazil

Speaker Biography:  My research focuses on the genetics of Indigenous and admixed Latin American populations. I lead the Laboratory of Human Genetic Diversity at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, which focuses on three areas: (i) the role of genomic diversity of Indigenous and admixed Latin American populations in the genetic architecture of complex diseases and drug response; (ii) inferences about the Pre-Columbian demographic history of Native American populations and the dynamics of Post-Columbian admixture in the Americas using genetic data; and (iii) the development of new concepts and tools in computational biology to study human genetic diversity. We are involved in the EPIGEN-Brazil Project, a major initiative at the interface of human genomics, epidemiology of complex diseases, and computational biology. I also lead the genomics and bioinformatics aspect of a project with a cohort of over 10,000 elderly Brazilian individuals. Recently, my group has initiated the Mosaico Translational Genomics project, which uses a transdisciplinary approach to integrate concepts of computational biology, genomics, medicine, and public health in global precision and evidence-based medicine.

Hosts: Charles Rotimi and Mateus Gouveia

Matthew Harris, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Genetics
Harvard Medical School

Speaker Biography: My research leverages forward genetic as well as genomic approaches to understand developmental processes that potentiate growth and patterning in late development. My lab’s work combines analysis of mutants identified in zebrafish and comparative genomics in a broad expanse of other fishes exhibiting unique phenotypes. These approaches have proven to be powerful in modeling developmental and genetic causes of both evolutionary change and human skeletal disorders. Our work has provided a foundation for the use of fish as experimental models and comparative genomics to understand the genetic regulation of development and disease. Current research program focuses on the regulation of proportional growth, bioelectric regulation of development and regeneration, as well as stem cell maintenance in aging.

Hosts: Shawn Burgess and Luis Colon-Cruz

Blake Wiedenheft, Ph.D.
Professor, Microbiology and Immunology; Biotechnology
Montana State University

Speaker Biography: Viruses that infect bacteria (i.e., bacteriophages) are the most abundant biological entities on earth, and the selective pressures that these pervasive predators impose have a profound impact on the composition and behavior of microbial communities in every ecological setting. Work in the Wiedenheft laboratory aims to understand the mechanisms that bacteria use to defend themselves from phage infection and counter mechanisms that phages use to subvert bacterial immune systems. We aim to determine the molecular structures of the cellular machines that mediate bacterial immunity, and we aim to use these structures to understand function. The scientific culture in the Wiedenheft lab is to understand and engineer cellular machines with new functions for applications in biotechnology and medicine.

Hosts: Julie Segre and Amanda Fuchs