NHGRI Division of Intramural Research Seminar Series

Stephen J. Chanock, M.D. 
Director
Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics
National Cancer Institute

Dr. Chanock is a leading expert in the discovery and characterization of cancer susceptibility regions in the human genome. He has received numerous awards for his scientific contributions to our understanding of common inherited genetic variants associated with cancer risk and outcomes.

Dr. Chanock received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1983 and completed clinical training in pediatrics, pediatric infectious diseases, and pediatric hematology/oncology and research training in molecular genetics at Boston Children’s Hospital and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston. Since 1995, Dr. Chanock has served as the Medical Director for Camp Fantastic, a week-long recreational camp for pediatric cancer patients, which is a joint venture of the NCI and Special Love, Inc.

From 2001-2007, he was a tenured investigator in the Genomic Variation Section of the Pediatric Oncology Branch in the NCI Center for Cancer Research. He also served as co-chair of NCI's Genetics, Genomics and Proteomics Faculty for five years. In 2001, he was appointed as Chief of the Cancer Genomics Research Laboratory (formerly Core Genotyping Facility), and in 2007 as Chief of the Laboratory of Translational Genomics, both within the NCI Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG). Dr. Chanock co-led the Cancer Genetic Markers of Susceptibility project. From 2012 to 2013, he also served as Acting Co-Director of the NCI Center for Cancer Genomics. Dr. Chanock was appointed Director of DCEG in August 2013.

Host: Les Biesecker

Giles Yeo, Ph.D.
Professor of Molecular Neuroendocrinology
University of Cambridge

Giles Yeo got his Ph.D. in molecular genetics from the University of Cambridge in 1998, after which he joined the lab of Professor Sir Stephen O’Rahilly, working on the genetics of severe human obesity.  Giles Yeo is now a Professor of Molecular Neuroendocrinology and programme leader at the MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit in Cambridge and his research currently focuses on the influence of genes on feeding behaviour & body-weight. In addition, he is a fellow of Wolfson College, and Honorary President of the British Dietetic Association. Giles is also a broadcaster and author, presenting science documentaries for the BBC, and hosts a podcast called ‘Dr Giles Yeo Chews The Fat’. His first book ‘Gene Eating’ was published in December 2018, and his second book ‘Why Calories Don’t Count’ came out in June 2021. Giles was appointed an MBE in the Queen’s 2020 birthday honours for services to ‘Research, Communication and Engagement’. He won the Society for Endocrinology Medal in 2022.

Host: Susan Persky

Sarah Tishkoff, Ph.D.
David and Lyn Silfen University Professor
Departments of Genetics and Biology
University of Pennsylvania
Director, Center for Global Genomics & Health Equity 

Sarah Tishkoff is the David and Lyn Silfen University Professor in Genetics and Biology at the University of Pennsylvania, holding appointments in the Perelman School of Medicine and the School of Arts and Sciences. She is also the Director of the Penn Center for Global Genomics & Health Equity in the Perelman School of Medicine.

Dr. Tishkoff studies genomic and phenotypic variation in ethnically diverse Africans. Her research combines field work, laboratory research, and computational methods to examine African population history, the genetic basis of anthropometric, cardiovascular, metabolic, and immune related traits, and how humans have adapted to diverse environments and diets. She plays an active role as an advocate for the inclusion of ethnically diverse global populations in human genetics and genomics research.

Dr. Tishkoff is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is a recipient of an NIH Pioneer Award, a David and Lucile Packard Career Award, a Burroughs/Wellcome Fund Career Award, the ASHG Curt Stern Award, the Wilbur Cross medal from Yale and a Penn Integrates Knowledge (PIK) endowed chair. She is President Elect of the American Society of Human Genetics, is on the NAS Board of Global Health and the Scientific Advisory Board for the Packard Fellowships in Science and Engineering and is on the editorial boards at Cell and PLOS Genetics.

Her research is supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Chan Zuckerberg Institute, the American Diabetes Association, and the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

Host: Chris Gunter and Kayla Calvin

Ran Blekhman, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Medicine, University of Chicago

Ran Blekhman, Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago, specializes in the intersection of human genomics and microbiome research. His research involves leveraging genomic and analytical techniques to unravel host-microbiome interactions in health and disease. The Blekhman Lab studies human genomic factors that control and interact with the microbiome. They utilize high-throughput genomics technologies and employ computational, statistical, machine learning, and population genetic analytical approaches, with the goal of understanding how to interact with the microbial communities, how host-microbe interactions affect human disease, and how the symbiosis between us and our microbiome evolved.

Hosts: Julie Segre and Zeyang Shen

Lars Steinmetz, Ph.D.
Chair, Department of Genetics, and
Dieter Schwarz Foundation Endowed Professor of Genetics
Stanford University

The Steinmetz lab develops genomic technologies to study the genetic basis of complex phenotypes, the mechanisms of gene regulation, and the molecular systems underpinning disease. We’re leveraging biological insights across scales and organisms to predict, diagnose, treat and ultimately prevent disease.

While technological advances have enabled the association of thousands of genetic variants to complex traits of health and disease, we lack a comprehensive understanding of how genetic variation governs phenotypic diversity and disease. This is largely due to the challenge of discovering the mechanisms through which genetic variation shape cellular phenotypes, as well as the complex interplay between variants and the impact of environmental factors. The Steinmetz Lab's research is directed at developing genomics technologies and approaches to study the molecular processes that underlie complex genetic traits, gene regulation, and inherited diseases. Their approach has been to drive technology development together with biological application, in which they work across the broad axis of fundamental to translational research.

Hosts: Meru Sadhu

Genevieve Wojcik, Ph.D., MHS
Assistant Professor
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Genevieve Wojcik, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore MD. As a statistical geneticist and genetic epidemiologist, Dr. Wojcik’s research focuses on method development for diverse populations, specifically in admixed populations. Many of her efforts focus on improving statistical methods for complex trait mapping and polygenic risk scores for these populations to address existing health inequities and ensure downstream translation for all.

The second arm of Dr. Wojcik’s research program focuses on the genetic susceptibility to infectious disease and vaccine response, with an eye towards host-pathogen co-evolution.

Dr. Wojcik is currently a member of numerous NIH consortia, including the Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE) Study, the Genome Sequencing Program (GSP), the Clinical Genome Resource (ClinGen), and the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program, as well as several international collaborations.

Hosts: Daphne Bell, Charles Venditti and Carol Van Ryzin