2025 Chromatin and Epigenetics Symposium

Please join us for the 8th Annual Chromatin and Epigenetics Symposium on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill in the Medical Biomolecular Research Building, G-202. Lunch will be served, as well as a reception after the symposium.

General registration closed on March 1 (abstracts submissions were due February 7).

If you have event questions, please email Imane Hedadji, ihedadji@email.unc.edu

Keynote Speaker

Cigall Kadoch, PhD
Talk title: “Structure and Function of Mammalian SWI/SNF Chromatin Remodeling Complexes in Health and Disease”

Cigall Kadoch, PhD, is an academic investigator as well as entrepreneur in the biomedical sciences. She is currently an Associate Professor of Pediatric Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI).

Dr. Kadoch is a world-renowned expert in biochemistry and cancer biology and is internationally recognized for her groundbreaking studies in these areas. Specifically, her laboratory studies the structure and function of nuclear protein complexes that govern DNA architecture and gene expression, perturbations in which are implicated in over 50% of human cancers and other diseases.

Based on her seminal work, Dr. Kadoch is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, Forbes magazine 30 Under 30, Popular Science Brilliant 10, the AAAS Wachtel Cancer Research Prize, the AACR Outstanding Achievement in Basic Cancer Research, the 2024 Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research and most recently, the 2024 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists, among many others. In addition to her academic accomplishments, Dr. Kadoch is the Scientific Founder of Foghorn Therapeutics (NASDAQ: FHTX), a company advancing a new class of medicines in oncology and beyond based on her pioneering discoveries.

Agenda

11 – 11:40 a.m. — Lunch

11:45 a.m. – 12 p.m. — Metabolic regulation of epigenetic reprogramming at fertilization, presented by Virginia Savy

12 – 12:15 p.m. — A Rapid and Simple Method for Extraction of High-quality Chromatin from Fixed Tissues, presented by Michelle Thomas

12:15 – 12:30 p.m. — Histone H3K18 & H3K23 Acetylation Directs Establishment of MLL-mediated H3K4 Methylation, presented by Geoffrey Fox

12:30 – 12:45 p.m. — Evaluation of Electronic Effects on Benzoyllysine Binding and Removal by Deacetylase Enzyme Hst2, presented by Jake Wilkinson

12:45 – 1 p.m. — Distinct Transcriptional Programs in The Placenta Syncytiotrophoblast Are Shaped by Epigenetic Regulation, presented by Madeline Keenen

1 – 1:30 p.m. — Break

1:30 – 1:45 p.m. — Hyperosmotic Stress Induces Complete Rewiring of Chromatin Interactions, presented by JP Flores

1:45 – 2 p.m. — The Interaction Between the Integrator and BAF Complexes, presented by Lindsey Hernandez

2 – 2:15 p.m. — Contribution of Chromatin Structure on Mitotic Spindle Mechanics, presented by Jiali Zhu

2:15 – 2:30 p.m. — Cell Cycle-regulated Transcriptional Pausing Controls Replication-dependent Drosophila Histone Gene Expression, presented by Mark Geisler

2:30 – 2:45 p.m. — H3K4 Methyltransferases and Enhancer Function in Skeletal Development and Osteoarthritis, presented by Gabi Quickstad

2:45 – 3 p.m. — Break

3 – 3:15 p.m. — TopoLoop: A Novel Tool for Chromatin Loop Detection with Single-particle Tracking in Live Cells, presented by Aryan Kokkanti

3:15 – 3:30 p.m. — HMGN1 and HMGN2 Respond to the Histone Acetylation Landscape and Attenuate p300-mediated Acetylation of H3K18, H3K23, and H3K27 at Enhancers and Promoters, presented by Riya Gohil

3:30 – 3:45 p.m. — Isogenic Comparison of Airn and Xist Reveals Core Principles of Polycomb Recruitment by lncRNAs, presented by Jackson Trotman

3:45 – 4:45 p.m. — Keynote Presentation: Structure and Function of Mammalian SWI/SNF Chromatin Remodeling Complexes in Health and Disease, presented by Cigall Kadoch

5 – 7 p.m. — Poster session and reception