Philipp Maas: The effect of lncRNAs on gene regulation and inter-chromosomal architecture

Dear colleagues,

i would like to invite you to a talk given by Philip Maass, Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular Genetics, and Scientist, Genetics and Genome Biology Program, SickKids Research Institute, University of Toronto.

Today, more long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) than protein coding genes are annotated in the human genome and these RNA genes can have diverse regulatory function in health, development and disease. LncRNAs regulate gene expression by their DNA sequence, transcript, and/or the act-of-transcription. Using various CRISPR tools, we disentangle the DNA and RNA-related functions of the lncRNA CISTR-ACT. This locus conducts gene and genome regulatory functions and is proof-of-concept that lncRNAs are in physical proximity to important morphogenesis genes on non-homologous chromosomes, and if misplaced, can be associated with disease, a discovery revolutionizing our understanding of genomic mechanisms.

Philipp Maass is a Principal Investigator in the Genetics & Genome Biology Program at the SickKids Research Institute, and Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto. His research focuses on long non-coding RNAs and inter-chromosomal interactions.
Philipp studied Molecular Biology at the Eberhard-Karls University in Tuebingen and obtained his PhD from the Humboldt University of Berlin under the mentorship of Dr. Friedrich C. Luft. He uncovered the role of PDE3A mutations in Mendelian hypertension and described the lncRNA CISTR-ACT as the first lncRNA involved in inter-chromosomal contacts and in Mendelian disease. Joining Dr. John L. Rinn’s lab at Harvard University, Philipp pioneered CRISPR live-cell imaging techniques to study genomic interactions in living cells, and he advanced high-throughput functional genomics to study the non-coding genome on large scales.
Since establishing his independent laboratory at the SickKids Research Institute in 2018, Philipp and his team utilize inter-disciplinary systems level approaches to dissect molecular mechanisms of the non-coding genome. By applying CRISPR tools on novel lncRNAs and studying genome organization with computational biology and computer science, the Maass Lab provides fundamental insights into the non-coding genome.
In recognition of his work, Philipp Maass has received several awards, including the Maud Menten New Principal Investigator Prize in Genetics, and the Walter-Siegenthaler Award for Advances in Translational Medicine, and he holds the Canada Research Chair in Noncoding Disease Mechanisms since 2018.

No registration required!

Please get in touch with michaela.kolbe@mdc-berlin.de in case you would like to meet the speaker on Tuesday, 11th July.

Where: BIMSB Large Conference Room and via Zoom
Meeting ID: 970 1771 1040    Passcode: 660876