UCD Conway Institute Fellow, Prof William Gallagher, opening EMBO Cancer Proteomics 2009
UCD Conway Institute Fellows Professors Liam Gallagher, Michael Dunn, Dolores Cahill, Stephen Pennington and William Watson, along with collaborators in Sweden and the United Kingdom hosted the EMBO Cancer Proteomics 2009 in UCD from the 8th-11th June 2009.
Scientists are casting a translational framework by which proteomic (protein) investigations can advance the understanding of how cancer-related processes operate and ultimately inform treatment strategies for the disease.
Plenary speakers addressing the conference included Dr Ruedi Aebersold, Professor of Systems Biology at the Institute of Biotechnology, ETH-Zürich who described his efforts to detect protein biomarkers in blood plasma using a new, hypothesis driven, targeted quantitative proteomic strategy. In his research, Dr Aebersold is focusing on a subset of proteins with attached sugars (glycoproteins), which add functionality. By comparing the glycoproteins in healthy tissue against those seen in tumours, he hopes to uncover potential biomarkers of disease.
Members of the public were invited to join conference delegates to discuss who owns and profits from biological collections, in the wake of the publication of a Government report into the creation of a national biobank. Professors Elaine Kay and David Smith from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland led an active discussion with respect to the establishment, governance, management, and use of human biobanks for research purposes.
This flagship event in the EMBO Conference Series programme is the first in a series of three events to be held over the next six years on the theme of cancer proteomics. The other events will take place at the European Bioinformatics Institute, Hinxton, UK in 2011 and at Lund University, Sweden in 2013.
Cancer Proteomics 2009; Mechanistic Insights, Technological Advances, and Molecular Medicine is co-funded by Science Foundation Ireland.
