Gene Silencing & Epigenetics Keynote Speakers

George Calin Professor and The Alan M. Gewirtz Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Scholar, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center George Adrian Calin received both his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees at Carol Davila University of Medicine in Bucharest, Romania. After working cytogenetics as undergraduate student with Dr. Dragos Stefanescu in Bucharest, he completed a cancer genomics training in Dr. Massimo Negrini’s laboratory at University of Ferrara, Italy. In 2000 he became a postdoctoral fellow at Kimmel Cancer Center in Philadelphia, PA, and while working in Dr. Carlo Croce laboratory Dr. Calin was the first to discover the link between human cancers and microRNAs, a finding considered as a milestone in microRNA research history. He has now developed starting from July 2007 an independent research group at the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and produced a new advance by linking new classes of non-coding RNAs to cancer. He is presently a Professor in Experimental Therapeutics at MDACC and studies the roles of microRNAs and other non-coding RNAs in cancer initiation and progression and in immune disorders, as well as the mechanisms of cancer predisposition linked to non-codingRNAs. Furthermore, he explores the roles of body fluids miRNAs as potential hormones and biomarkers, as well as new RNA therapeutic options for cancer patients.
Hakim Djaballah CEO, Institute Pasteur - Korea Dr. Djaballah has several years of industrial experience in early drug discovery gained over the years in pharma and biotech companies. He has extensive experiences in the areas of fluorescence technology, assay development, automation/robotics, HTS, compound & screening data management, software development & novel technologies. Dr Djaballah has been involved in developing and screening several targets in various therapeutic areas, including antibacterials, antivirals, antifungals, diabetes, CNS, cardiovascular, oncology & inflammation. He is currently the director of the high throughput drug screening core facility at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York. He obtained his BSc (Hons.) in biochemistry and biotechnology from the University of Birmingham, and his PhD in biochemistry from the University of Leicester, both in England.