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VERSION:2.0
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SUMMARY:EPFL BioE Talks SERIES "From genes to programs to traits: building
  causal models for human genetics with GWAS and perturb-seq"
DTSTART:20260223T131500
DTEND:20260223T141500
DTSTAMP:20260407T111436Z
UID:154ab2f0e00c2b3d2e90c0c1c1646616b45c4f67d824770f1b836746
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Jonathan Pritchard\, Professor of Biology and Genetics at Sta
 nford University\nWEEKLY EPFL BIOE TALKS SERIES (sandwiches provided)\n\nA
 bstract:\n\nGenome-wide association studies (GWAS) provide a unique and po
 werful tool for identifying causal links from variants to genes to human t
 raits and diseases. Although modern GWAS gives an information-rich readout
  of the relevant variants and genes\, it remains very challenging to turn 
 this into mechanistic models of disease and clinical applications. In this
  talk I will describe how new genome-wide CRISPR-based perturbations provi
 de a critical interpretive key for human genetics data\, including our rec
 ent proof-of-concept study inferring causal graphs for red blood cell-rela
 ted traits such as hemoglobin levels\, and our new genome-wide perturb-seq
  of primary T cells in multiple stimulation contexts. I will close with a 
 broader discussion of the opportunities and open challenges in this field.
  \n \n\nBiography:\nJonathan Pritchard is Professor of Biology and Genet
 ics at Stanford University. He grew up in England\, and studied at Penn St
 ate\, Stanford\, and Oxford. He joined the faculty of the University of Ch
 icago in 2001 and returned to Stanford University in 2013. His lab has don
 e wide-ranging research on using genetics to study human population struct
 ure\, history\, and adaptation\, and on understanding the mechanisms by wh
 ich genetic variation affects gene regulation and complex traits. One of h
 is major early contributions was the Structure algorithm\, which uses gene
 tic data to infer population structure and personal ancestry. One major cu
 rrent focus is on how to use experimental perturbation methods to model hu
 man gene regulatory networks and the genetic basis of complex traits\, wit
 h a particular focus on immune cells and traits. His lab has been recogniz
 ed with various honors\, including Dr. Pritchard’s election to the US Na
 tional Academy of Sciences in 2025.\n\nZoom link (with one-time registrati
 on for the whole series) for attending remotely: https://go.epfl.ch/EPFLBi
 oETalks\n\n\nInstructions for 1st-year Ph.D. students planning to attend t
 his talk\, who are under EDBB’s mandatory seminar attendance rule:\nIN C
 ASE you cannot attend in-person in the room\, please make sure to\n\n\n	se
 nd D. Reinhard a note well ahead of time (ideally before seminar day)\, in
 forming that you plan to attend the talk online\, and\, during seminar:\n	
 be signed in on Zoom with a recognizable user name (not any alias making i
 t difficult or impossible to identify you).\n\nStudents attending the semi
 nar in-person should collect a confirmation signature after the talk - ple
 ase print your own signature sheet beforehand (69 kB pdf available for dow
 nload here). IMPORTANTLY: hang on to this sheet as no signature record is 
 being kept by anyone else!
LOCATION:SV 1717 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==SV%201717 https://go.epfl.ch/
 EPFLBioETalks
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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