Advances in NGS & Big Data Keynote Speakers

Wilhelm Ansorge Professor, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne Professor Wilhelm J. Ansorge EPFL, (ETH Lausanne). Short description of background : Dissertation in : Magnetic properties of materials at cryogenic temperatures. Texas Instruments Inc., Dallas.,-. Semiconductor technology and development. CERN, Geneva,- Construction of Superconducting magnets and Components, Computer system control. EMBL, Heidelberg,-Biomedical Technology, Instruments and Techniques development, commercialized by by my Department at European Molecular Biology Laboratory and leading European industry. At present at EPFL, serving on several European Scientific Advisory Boards. Continued interest in innovative DNA analysis and other genomics tools. DNA Sequencing Systems : Development and construction of five generations, starting with Ultra-thin Gel Technique, to High-throughput Fluorescent multiple lasers sequencing systems. (Commercialized by LKB, Pharmacia Amersham). The technique was used for determination of the first human Gene locus (HPRT) 60 kb sequence, published 1992, proving feasibility of the technology for analysis of complex genome projects. Furthermore were sequenced human chromosomal DNA for clinical projects. We participated in sequencing of yeast (largest contribution in continental Europe), genomic and mitochondrial DNA in Arabidopsis, parts of Drosophila and Anopheles. First analysis of gene expression in yeast on low carbon diet by SAGE technique. Already in 1991 I submitted one of the first patent applications for a DNA sequencing system without gels, fluorescent "Sequencing by Synthesis", similar to those used today in US, in the so called Next-generation systems. Other contributions from the EMBL department include : Automated Microinjection in single cells (Zeiss, Eppendorf), Electro-Transfection(Eppendorf), Ultrathin Gel Technique for DNA and protein analysis, DNA Synthesiser, Protein Synthesiser, Mass Spectrometry from Gel+Fingerprint, Nano-electrospray Mass Specs, 1st Whole Genome Chip (52000cDNAs) in 2001, Development of software, robotics and automation. Membership and Honors : EMBO, HUGO, HUPO. ( Honorary degree from the Charles University in Prague, 1992.) Publications, Patents and Technology Transfer Over 300 publications, Reviews, 3 books (Techniques, Molecular Diagnostics), Over 30 patent applications, resulting in several commercial products by leading European companies. Involved in Technology Transfer, founder of one Biotech company.
John Quackenbush Professor, Dana Farber Cancer Institute John Quackenbush received his PhD in 1990 in theoretical physics from UCLA working on string theory models. Following two years as a postdoctoral fellow in physics, Dr. Quackenbush applied for and received a Special Emphasis Research Career Award from the National Center for Human Genome Research to work on the Human Genome Project. He spent two years at the Salk Institute and two years at Stanford University working at the interface of genomics and computational biology. In 1997 he joined the faculty of The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) where his focus began to shift to understanding what was encoded within the human genome. Since joining the faculties of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Harvard School of Public Health in 2005, his work has focused on the use of genomic data to reconstruct the networks of genes that drive the development of diseases such as cancer and emphysema.