TGen Talks

TGen Assistant Professor, Dr. Will Hendricks, discusses comparative oncology, a field of study that in recent years has gained in popularity, as it seeks to integrate information from naturally occurring cancers in pets into what we know about the biology of cancer in humans.

MindCrowd, launched seven years ago by Dr. Matthew Huentelman, studies the healthy brain. At its core, MindCrowd offers a new way approach scientific research to learn how the brain functions and how genetics influences memory.

Microbes out-number the genes in your DNA by more than 1,000 to 1 and together they make up what is known as your microbiome. TGen’s Dr. Sarah K. Highlander, a research professor in the Pathogen and Microbiome Division at TGen North and director of the Clinical Microbiome Service Center, works to understand the microbiome and how it is helping scientists better understand cancer, diabetes and a host of other conditions, including traveler’s diarrhea.

Dr. Glen Otero, a 20 year veteran of life science industry and an expert in high-performance computing, discusses artificial intelligence, or A.I., and how it addresses the computational needs of the biomedical research community by executing tasks more rapidly and without human error in a fraction of the time. Today, A.I. is used to process complex genomic data sets to accelerate delivery of personalized treatments for cancer and other diseases by turning raw genomic data —such as a human genome sequence— into usable information to predict disease patterns and treatment outcomes.

In medicine, a biomarker is anything used to determine the presence or development of a particular disease or biological state. They can be used to determine if an injury or disease has occurred, or even if a therapy is working. In this episode, Dr. Kendall Van Keuren-Jensen, a Professor in TGen Neurogenomics Division and Co-Director of TGen’s Center for Noninvasive Diagnostics, discusses how her team is working on ways to use biomarkers — in this case the molecular readout of RNA — as a non-invasive method for studying and treating complex diseases, such as those that affect the nervous system.

Nature vs. nurture? How about nature and nature? Dr. Candace Lewis, a postdoctoral fellow in the Huentelman lab at TGen, walks us through a biological regulatory framework known as epigenomics that changes the behavior of our cells due to our life experiences. Dr. Lewis also discusses the resurgence in psychedelic assisted therapy to treat depression and trauma, and her work in Autism.

Helios Scholar Mario Mosqueda asked 10 TGen scientists for their best career advice in an insightful discussion on charting a path in science.

Did You Know? There are fellows - and ladies - that work in the lab to learn how to lead a lab. They're called 'postdocs.'

Steve, a four-year pancreatic cancer, survivor shares his story of hope.

Students from the inaugural TGen Bioscience Leadership Academy took over the TGen Talks podcast to discuss what they learned during their two-week, immersive summer experience at TGen.