Café scientifique: The Role of Epigenetic Mechanisms in Biology, a lecture by Dr. Andrea Piunti, Northwestern University
Fri, May 17, 2019 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Italian Cultural Institute
500 N Michigan Ave, Suite 1450
Our body is composed by many different cells. Every cell contains the same DNA (with a few exceptions) that contains the information that defines each cell (neurons, muscle cells, etc.).
Why are cells with the same DNA different? Why is a neuron different from a skin cell? The answer is epigenetic, a process that controls our DNA and determines which genes are on and off. Epigenetics is extremely important to maintain the normal cell function. Dr. Piunti will discuss how epigenetic mechanisms control the information encoded by the DNA and how these can be hijacked in cancer.
Dr. Andrea Piunti is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at Northwestern University. He has a PhD in Molecular Oncology from the European Institute of Oncology (IEO) in Milan. Dr. Piunti’s research is mainly focused on deregulation of chromatin pathways in cancer. He has been an EMBO Long-Term postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern University and his work was funded by the Associazione Italiana Ricerca sul Cancro (AIRC). He has been an invited speaker to several international meetings and he is the recipient of the IX Fondazione Lorini’s award and one of the finalists of the ISSNAF young investigators awards.
The event is organized in collaboration with AIRIcerca and is part of the series “Caffè scientifico” (Café scientifique)
AIRIcerca is an association of Italian researchers in the world, created with the aim of promoting networking among Italian researchers that live and work in different countries, in the hopes of creating scientific collaborations and exchanging useful information. Since 2017 AIRIcerca has had a Chicago chapter, which attracts Italian researchers active in the City of Chicago and the surrounding areas.
Free and open to the public.
This event will be held in English.
A reception will follow.