Thank you for following BACE this year! In case you would like to revisit this past year’s events, here is a brief summary.
Epigenomics in cfDNA and Liquid Biopsy
We started 2021 with an event in February on Epigenomics in cfDNA and Liquid Biopsy. First, Nathan Boley, the Founder and CEO of Ravel Biotechnology, introduced us to how “Cell-free DNA Fragmentation Patterns Reveal Chromatin Structure”. Next, Ariel Jaimovich, Associate Director, Bioinformatics at Guardant Health, described his team’s journey in search for the best cfDNA approach for early cancer detection. You can revisit Ariel’s talk in this YouTube recording.
Deep learning
In March we hosted prof. Olga Troyanskaya, professor at the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics and the Department of Computer Science at Princeton University, and the deputy director of Genomics at the Center for Computational Biology at the Flatiron Institute in NYC. She shared with us an exciting overview of her group’s work on “Deep learning models for understanding transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation: from variants to disease”.
Epi(Genomics) of Fertility
In May we met two ambitious entrepreneurs pushing the boundaries in the area of fertility. Brad Gulko, Founder of Progenic Genomics, guided us through the complexities and challenges of embryo diagnostics and shared learnings from his entrepreneurial path thus far. Kristin Brogaard, COO of Inherent Biosciences, told us about the impact of male infertility on society and showed us how her product fills an important gap, potentially bringing hope back to many couples struggling with ineffective and expensive infertility treatments. You can hear Kristin’s talk again in our YouTube channel.
Epigenetic Therapeutics
We reconvened after the summer for the first BACE event dedicated to epigenetic therapeutics. Our guest Eric Campeau, PhD, Vice President of Translational Biology at Zenith Epigenetics Ltd. talked about “Translating epigenetic-based therapies from preclinical programs into clinical trials: examples with BET bromodomain inhibitors”, and the importance of learnings derived from preclinical work.
(Epi)Genetics of the Microbiome
In October 2021 we met two exciting companies which, in very different ways, leverage the power of microbiome. Gabriela Gutierrez, the Founder and CEO of Microgenesis, discovered microbiome signatures associated with infertility and is helping women re-establiish balance of their gut microbiota in order to regain their fertility. Hear Gabriela’s story here.
Ivan Liachko, the Founder and CEO of Phase Genomics, shared with us how his company leveraged the power of Hi-C to discover and dissect some of the most complex microbiomes to date. Ivan’s talk is also available, and worth listening to again.
Chromatin Coffees
All along our themed events, we also met every now and then to chat about epigenetic and industry news and get to know each other.
2022 – what’s next?
Stay tuned to learn about our upcoming events! Please join the BACE Meetup group to receive event announcements, and feel free to contact us with event ideas and recommendations.
Bio Bay Area 