Date: 17 Jan 2005 (Monday)

Speaker 1:  Professor Ming Li

Canada Research Chair in Bioinformatics, School of Computer Science, University of Waterloo

Topics:  Genome to Annotation

Abstract:  Billions of dollars have been spent to sequence the genomes. 400 enkaryote genomes are being sequenced. Unfortunately, with much less money being spent on interpreting the expensive data, much of the information remain buried. I will describe our efforts in building an efficient and accurate pipeline for annotating proteins, from comprehensive coding region detection, homology modelling, protein threading, to protein pathway literature mining.

About the Speaker: Ming Li is a CRC Chair Professor in Bioinformatics, of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo. He is a recipient of Canada's E.W.R. Steacie Followship Award in 1996, and the 2001 Killam Fellowship. Together with Paul Vitanyi they pioneered applications of Kolmogorov complexity and co-authored the book "An Introduction to Kolmogorov Complexity and Its Applications" (Springer-Verlag, 1993, 2nd Edition, 1997). He is a co-managing editor of Journal of Bioinformatics and Computatational Biology. He currently also serves on the editorial boards of Journal of Computer and System Sciences, Information
and Computation, SIAM Journal on Computing, Journal of Combinatorial
Optimization, Journal of Software, and Journal of Computer Science and Technology.

Speaker 2: Professor Edison Liu

Executive Director, Genome Institute of Singapore

Topics: The Dynamic Transcriptome

Abstract: It is our premise that the next challenge in dissecting biological complexity is the comprehensive understanding of gene expression associated with cellular states. Using expression profiling, we have been able to define a hierarchy of molecular significance in the molecular configuration of human cancers using breast cancer as the model system. We find that estrogen receptor is the most important in distinguishing tumor class. We have pursued the estrogen receptor as a model system to dissect the regulatory control of transcription by a nuclear hormone receptor. Our work uncovered the importance of estrogen receptor status in the transcriptional footprint of human breast cancers, and the role of direct ER responsive genes in this signature. Direct estrogen responsive genes however do not uniformly have EREs at the upstream cis-regulatory regions. Our detailed ChIP and ChIP-cloning analysis revealed that intronic EREs are used preferentially when compared to those 5’ to the transcriptional start sites. Moreover, most of the 5’ cis-regulatory regions of ER responsive genes are minimally conserved in evolution. Taken together, our common notions of sequences regulating transcription must be reexamined. Morever, we speculate that the evolution of the DNA sequences of the transcriptional regulatory regions undergo a different strategy than those of coding regions. Moving from the clinical bedside to the laboratory bench, we have been able to use genomics to uncover biological truths.

About the Speaker: Dr. Edison Liu was born in Hong Kong, China, and emigrated to the United States in 1957. He received his bachelor's degree (Phi Beta Kappa) in chemistry and psychology from Stanford University where he remained to complete his M.D. in 1978. This was followed by internship and residency in internal medicine at Washington University, St. Louis, and clinical cancer fellowships at Stanford University (Oncology), and at the University of California at San Francisco (Hematology). He then pursued post-doctoral studies in molecular oncogenesis at the University of California at San Francisco in the laboratory of Dr. J. Michael Bishop identifying transforming genes in human leukemic states. In 1987 when he joined the faculty of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. There, he developed programs in leukemia and breast cancer research centering on molecular epidemiology and cell signaling. At UNC, Dr. Liu held faculty appointments in medicine, biochemistry, epidemiology, and genetics, and was director of UNC's Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in Breast Cancer. From 1993 until 1996, Dr. Liu was leader of the Breast Cancer Program at the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, and co-founder of the Breast Care Center at UNC. In 1995, he was appointed Chief of the Division of Medical Genetics, School of Medicine, UNC. In 1996, he joined the NCI as the Director of the Division of Clinical Sciences. In this capacity, he was responsible for the scientific and administrative direction for the intramural clinical research arm of the NCI comprised of over 100 principal investigators, 400 trainees, and 1,200 employees. In 2001, Dr. Liu assumed the position of Executive Director, Genome Institute of Singapore which is a flagship programme of the Biomedical Sciences Initiative of Singapore. At the GIS, he is building an international research institute of 300 individuals focused on integrating genomic sciences with cell and medical biology. His current individual research studies the genome-wide transcriptional control by nuclear hormone receptors in cancer biology. Dr. Liu also serves in several capacities as the Director of the Singapore Cancer Syndicate, a funding agency; the Singapore Tissue Network (national tissue repository), Chair of the Research Advisory Committee of the National Health Group, and member of the National Bioethics Advisory Committee.