Seminaris

Computational analysis of cancer genomes

External Seminar

Tipus
External Seminar
Data
dimecres, 30 setembre 20
Professors

Nuria Lopez-Bigas, Biomedical
Genomics, IRB Barcelona

Somatic mutations are the driving force of cancer genome evol tion. Given the evolutionary principles of cancer, one effective way to identify genes involved in cancer is by tracing the signals left by the positive selection of driver mutations across tumours. We analyze thousands of tumor genomes to identify driver mutations in the genome (results available in http://www.intogen.org). The analysis of tumor cohorts provides valuable information to improve the interpretation of individual variants detected in newly sequenced tumors in clinical or research settings. We have developed CancerGenomeInterpreter.org, a tool designed to identify driver mutations and biomarkers of drug response in individual tumors.

Finally, by analyzing more than 3500 whole-genomes of treated metastatic patients we uncovered the mutational footprints (or mutational signatures) of commonly used cancer treatments. These signatures allowed us to measure the mutational toxicity of these treatments across patients and organs.

Nuria López -Bigas is an ICREA Research Professor at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine and associate professor at the University Pompeu Fabra. She was elected member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) in 2016. She obtained a grant from the European Research Council Consolidator Grant (ERC-consolidator) in 2015. Her work has been recognized with awards such as the prestigious Banc de Sabadell Award for Research in Biomedicine, the Catalan National Award for Young Research Talent and the Career Development Award from the Human Frontiers Science Program Organization.

Her research focuses on the identification of cancer driver mutations, genes and pathways across tumor types and in understanding the mutational processes leading to the accumulation of mutations in cancer cells.