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The 4th Annual Chromatin and Epigenetics Symposium will be held Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020, 1 – 5 p.m. as a virtual event.

Sponsors

Jointly sponsored by the Carolina Chromatin Consortium, Cancer Epigenetics Training Program, IBGS, NIEHS, and UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Abstracts

Abstract submissions closed Monday, Nov. 16, 2020 at 5 p.m. Several abstracts will be selected for talks, and all others will participate in a poster session. A $200 award will be given to the best speaker and up to five poster presentations.

Register

Symposium Keynote Speaker

Martin Hirst, PhD

Dr. Hirst is an Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Associate Director of the Michael Smith Laboratories at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Head of Epigenomics at Canada’s Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre. Dr. Hirst was one of the first in the world to successfully complete ChIP-seq, RNA-seq and miRNA-seq experiments on the nascent Solexa 1G platform and for the last 10 years he has led the development of an internationally recognized epigenomic research program at UBC and BC Cancer. As a member of the NIH Human Reference Epigenomic Mapping Consortium, he led the development of epigenomic analysis tools for comprehensive molecular profiling of human tissues and cells. He currently leads the Centre of Epigenomic Mapping Technologies (CEMT) that represents one of two Canadian epigenomic mapping centres funded as part of the CIHR signature initiative; the Canadian Epigenetics, Environment and Health Research Consortium (CEEHRC). Dr. Hirst currently chairs the Scientific Steering Committee of the International Human Epigenome Consortium (IHEC) and leads the Canadian Epigenetics, Environment and Health Research Consortium Network (epigenomes.ca) with a mandate to drive epigenetic research in Canada and internationally.

Dr. Hirst is a highly cited researcher (2019) whose work focuses on understanding the role of epigenetic deregulation in cancer. To enable tracking and epigenomic profiling of rare subsets of normal and transformed cell types he recently developed a genomic barcoding strategy, a native ChIP-seq protocol, and a PBAT methodology for profiling DNA methylation genome wide down to a single cell level. He has applied these and other tools to explore the epigenomic states of highly-purified and functionally defined normal and transformed cell types including the characterization of vitamin C induced epigenomic reprogramming in leukemic models.

View Hirst’s full publication record