Sunday, February 19 | 2-5 pm
SC7: Emerging Single Cell Analysis Techniques
2:00 Microfluidics for Large-Scale Single Cell RNA-Seq in Glioblastoma
Peter Sims, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Systems Biology, Columbia University University Medical Center
Recent advances have enabled single cell RNA-Seq on a large-scale, allowing unbiased decomposition of complex tissues without sorting. We have developed a microwell-based platform for rapid, inexpensive single cell RNA-Seq that is particularly amendable to profiling complex tissues. We have applied this system to simultaneously profile both glioma cells and surrounding non-neoplastic brain cells from human surgical specimens.
3:15 Refreshment Break
3:45 Molecular Insights into Single Circulating Rare Cells
Patrizia Paterlini-Brechot, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University Paris Descartes
Circulating tumor and trophoblastic cells are circulating rare cells. They need powerful enrichment before capture and molecular analysis.Interest on their molecular analysis covers non invasive theranostics and non invasive prenatal diagnosis. Advantages and disadvantages of different strategies will be discussed.
4:15 Enabling Single Cell Genomics Data Analysis
Rajiv Pande, Ph.D., President and CEO, Smpl Bio
A software platform for end-to-end analysis of single cell transcriptomics is described. Kratos Ace empowers researchers and clinicians to examine behaviors of 10,000+ genes across 10,000+ cells at the individual cell level. This fully automated platform provides comprehensive results: from mapping through to quantification, cell grouping and differential gene expression in a few hours. The results and data are downloadable and instantly accessible even on smartphones or tablets.
4:45 Q&A with Speakers
5:00 Close of Course
INSTRUCTORS
Peter Sims, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Systems Biology, Columbia University Medical Center
Dr. Sims earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 2004 from the University of California at San Diego (UCSD), where he trained in computational biology in the laboratory of Prof. J. Andrew McCammon. At UCSD, he developed methods for computer-aided drug design based on the theory of electrostatics. From 2004 to 2009, he pursued graduate studies in chemistry at Harvard University in the laboratory of Prof. X. Sunney Xie. In Prof. Xie’s lab, he carried out single molecule biophysical studies of microtubule-mediated active transport by kinesin and dynein in living cells. He and his colleagues developed methods for high speed, particle tracking with nanometer spatial precision in living cells using fluorescence microscopy, dark field microscopy, and optical tweezers. Dr. Sims earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from Harvard in 2009. Towards the end of his graduate studies, he began work on a novel next-generation sequencing technology which culminated in the development of fluorogenic pyrosequencing. The technology combines the throughput and sensitivity advantages of fluorescence-based sequencing with the speed and simplicity of pyrosequencing. After refining fluorogenic pyrosequencing during postdoctoral studies in Prof. Xie’s lab, Dr. Sims joined the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at Columbia University Medical Center as an assistant professor in 2012. In 2013, Columbia formed the Department of Systems Biology, where Dr. Sims’ now has his primary appointment. In 2014, he was appointed Associate Director of the J.P. Sulzberger Columbia Genome Center. In collaboration with the Genome Center, Dr. Sims’ lab develops new technologies for single cell transcriptome analysis based on microfluidics and microscopy. He and his colleagues are currently working to merge cell culture, high-content imaging, and single cell RNA-Seq into a single microfluidic platform compatible with drug screening experiments. In addition, his lab recently reported the development of cell type-specific ribosome profiling, which is now being used to understand how protein synthesis is dysregulated in a variety of neurological disorders including brain tumors, epilepsy, and autism spectrum disorders.
Patrizia Paterlini-Brechot, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University Paris Descartes
Patrizia Paterlini-Brechot, MD, PhD, is Oncologist, Hematologist and Molecular Biologist. She is a Professor of Oncology/Molecular Biology at Paris Descartes University-Hôpital, with a triple task of research leader, academic teacher and hospital practitioner. Author or co-author of more than 120 peer reviewed scientific articles, and co-inventor of 7 patents, Prof. Paterlini-Brechot published fundamental studies on liver carcinogenesis. Her team developed and patented the method ISET (Isolation by SizE of Tumor/Trophoblastic cells) allowing for the first time the isolation from blood of intact tumor and fetal cells without loss and without the use of antibodies, now recognized as a breakthrough in the fields of predictive oncology and non-invasive prenatal diagnosis. She founded Rarecells in 2009, which has the exclusive license of the ISET patents belonging to the French Public Institutions, to bring the ISET tests to the public.
Rajiv Pande, Ph.D., President and CEO, Smpl Bio
Rajiv Pande, Ph.D., is the President and CEO of Smpl Bio. Rajiv has been in the life science / biotechnology industry for more than 20 years. He has worked in various capacities (Research, Business Development and Executive roles) for several start-ups and market leaders, including CyVek, Bio-techne, Idexx and Fisher Scientific. Rajiv has a Ph.D. in Biochemistry (UMASS) and an MBA (Yale).