ISB’s Dr. Ilya Shmulevich attended Google Cloud Platform’s GCPNext conference in San Francisco and presented on ISB’s Cancer Genomics Cloud project. He explains how his team used GCP to create better access for a broad range of researchers to cancer genomics data (from The Cancer Genomics Atlas) and the tools with which to explore that data. Watch Dr. Shmulevich’s talk below.
Cure First is hosting the forum “Cancer Think Tank.” Speakers include ISB’s Dr. Ilya Shmulevich and Dr. Brady Bernard. Date: January 21, 2016 Time: 1-5:30 p.m. MED talks, breakout sessions, and panel discussion; 6-8 p.m. networking with wine and dinner Why: To jump start innovative collaborations in cancer research with the goal to submit proposals for funding to accelerate the discovery of new, less toxic and targeted therapies. Who: This…
3 Bullets: Identifying the most aggressive cells in cancer (cancer stem cells) is essential for designing effective therapy and predicting patient outcomes. Using single-cell analysis techniques, researchers at ISB and Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine have identified the molecular signatures of two types of malignant breast tissue cells. Researchers found an interesting twist: the two cell types “cooperate” to increase malignancy potential and they promote a third hybrid stem-cell type….
Name: John Chevillet, PhD Lab: Hood Research: I am trying to develop an ultrasound-based method to take a sample from a tumor, thus replacing needle biopsies. An ultrasound-based method would minimize complications, better diagnose cancers, and direct the use of targeted therapies for personalized medicine. Wish List: If I had $10,000, I could analyze the blood specimens we currently have for cancer dna to demonstrate what this method can tell…
Congratulations to the Sui Huang Lab at ISB which has received a five-year $1.7 million R01 award from the National Institutes of Health and National Institute for General Medical Sciences to study cancer sub-population dynamics to understand and develop drugs to inhibit lethal cancer-drug resistance. The project proposal states that the work will: “develop a quantitative and formal framework for describing the temporal evolution of cell phenotype distribution in a…
(Above illustration from MIT Technology Review.) MIT Technology Review published an article about the launch of Google Genomics and included a mention of ISB’s new Cancer Genomics Cloud project. ISB received an up-to $6.5 million, two-year NIH contract in collaboration with Google and SRA International. From the MIT Technology Review article: The idea is to create “cancer genome clouds” where scientists can share information and quickly run virtual experiments as…
3 Bullets: Papillary thyroid cancer represents 80 percent of all thyroid cancer cases. Integrative analysis resulted in the detection of significant molecular alterations not previously reported in the disease. ISB researchers identified microRNAs which may lead to more precise therapy. By Lisa Iype Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is the most common type of thyroid cancer, accounting for 80 percent of all cases. As part of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)…
By ISBUSA Since we announced that we got a $6.5 million contract from NCI to develop the Cancer Genomics Cloud pilot project, we’ve gotten some great press from around the world. It doesn’t hurt that one of our partners is Google, of course. Here are some of the headlines from around the world: Puget Sound Business Journal: Cancer in the cloud: Institute for Systems Biology teams up with Google NBCNews.com:…
PRESS RELEASE Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) has received a $6.5 million, up to two-year, federally funded contract from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH). ISB is one of three organizations awarded a contract by NCI to develop a cloud-based platform that will serve as a large-scale data repository and provide the computational infrastructure necessary to carry out cancer genomics research at unprecedented scales. ISB’s Shmulevich…
3 Bullets: Gastric cancer has a high mortality rate, but current classification systems haven’t been effective in helping to identify subtypes relevant for treatment of the disease. TCGA researchers have integrated molecular data from 295 stomach tumors and have discovered four subtypes of gastric cancer. Stratification of patients into these four subtypes paves the way for the development of new personalized therapies. By Theo Knijnenburg Gastric cancer is among the…
Photo: Theo Knijnenburg, a research scientist in ISB's Shmulevich Lab, presentaed a summary of his work related to gene mutations and cancer drug sensitivity. Systems biology is about the culture as much as a scientific approach. ISB and Seattle BioMed have an inter-institutional agreement that enables the collective to benefit from shared knowledge and technology resources. For the second consecutive year, we held Lightning Talks (June 12) to allow researchers…
(Photo above: ISB’s Dr. Ilya Shmulevich describes his lab’s work in The Cancer Genome Atlas project and how ISB and FHCRC could collaborate.) Big health challenges require big science. Cancers are prime examples of overwhelmingly complex diseases that need the power of a cross-disciplinary, systems biology approach to decipher the underlying dysfunctional gene networks in order to find ways to prevent and manage the diseases and develop more effective therapies….
May has been designated "National Cancer Research Month" and we'd like to share a little about how ISB is using the systems biology approach to tackle some of the complexities of researching cancers. You can read our four-part series on how ISB's pioneering systems biology has made an impact and continues to clear new pathways for the cancer research field. Please visit aacr.org to learn more about NCRM. Support ISB's…
By Martin Shelton, Theo Knijnenburg and Joseph Zhou ISB Editorial Board Members The oldest existing record of cancer occurs in a 4000-year-old Egyptian papyrus. It describes, in detail, a woman with symptoms eerily similar to those of modern breast cancer patients. As for the prescribed treatment, there was simply this statement: “No cure.” Sadly, this short and assertive conclusion remains true. According to the American Cancer Society’s annual cancer statistics…
By Martin Shelton ISB Editorial Board Member With the exception of cancers of the skin, mouth, and blood, it is difficult to detect cancer by sight or with a routine health screen. The natural variety that exists at the cellular level — even within cells of the same type — challenges our ability to differentiate healthy tissue from diseased. This variety, what biologists call heterogeneity, means that equally healthy cells…
By Theo Knijnenburg ISB Editorial Board Member When a patient receives a diagnosis of breast cancer, it’s a specific subtype of breast cancer, such as invasive ductal carcinoma. Each subtype is characterized by the shape and location of the tumor, its growth progression, prognosis and treatment. The ability to stratify, or group, cancer patients based on the specific characteristics of their cancer type, is the first step toward personalized cancer…
By Sui Huang and Joseph Zhou, ISB Editorial Board Members Cancer cells, for decades regarded as a uniform mass of identical (“clonal”) cells, are not like the soldiers of a traditional army, trained to act and respond in unison. Cancer cells, even within a genetic clone, express enormous individuality akin to guerrilla fighters, each with unique strengths, weaknesses and distinct behaviors. Therefore, they do not respond to an attack from…
ISB held its 13th Annual International Symposium: Systems Biology & Cancers on April 13-14. Please read more about our speakers and program. If you weren't able to attend or would like to refresh your memory of the talks, we have made a selection of the presentations available to view below. Or visit the playlist on ISB's YouTube channel.
