Science for All Seasons 2013

Science for All Seasons gives you a chance to explore hot topics in genomics with leading experts from the Broad Institute. Find out what key advances, new technologies, and the latest findings mean for you in this free and open lecture series.
 

2013 Lectures

[ video ]
Tuesday, January 14, 6-7:15pm, reception to follow
Building Liver Tissue for Disease Modeling and Therapy
Sangeeta Bhatia

As an alternative to transplant, what if patients facing liver failure could simply have a new organ grown for them? This is the ultimate research goal of biomedical engineer Sangeeta Bhatia, also a senior associate member of the Broad.

Using two- and three-dimensional cellular models, Bhatia investigates the microenvironment of liver cells and how it influences their ability to mature and divide, insights that could guide the development of an artificial liver. In this talk, Bhatia will describe advances in liver tissue engineering, including the recent discovery of compounds that can drive liver cell maturation and division, and explain how different liver models are valuable for testing human drug metabolism and toxicity and studying pathogens that infect the liver.

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[ video ]
Wednesday, October 2, 6-7:15pm
The genetics of obsessive compulsive disorder in dogs -
and what it means for humans
Elinor Karlsson

Different as we may seem, humans and dogs suffer from many of the same debilitating psychiatric diseases—including obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).

For both species, current medical treatments have proven ineffective, in large part due to a lack of understanding the roots of the disease. But an exciting collaborative effort between Broad scientists and thousands of dog owners is unraveling the genetic underpinnings of human and canine OCD, cancer, and much more. In this compelling presentation, the Broad’s Elinor Karlsson will discuss recent advances in determining the genetic causes of OCD in dogs, and implications for OCD therapies in humans. 

 

[ video ]

Thursday, November 7, 6-7:15pm
Guts & bugs in health and disease
Ramnik Xavier

Our bodies are host to trillions of microorganisms, many of which reside in our digestive system. This tiny population, known as the gut microbiome, mostly functions to aid digestion or repress the growth of harmful bacteria. But imbalances in these same bacterial species have also been linked to inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, and even cancer. Broad senior associate member and renowned gastroenterologist Ramnik Xavier will discuss the link between gut microbiome and our health. 

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