As the next speaker in our seminar series, we welcome Dr. Fei Chen from Harvard University.
Next Generation Tools for Spatial and Temporal Genomics
Abstract: The precise spatial localization of molecular signals within tissues richly informs the mechanisms of tissue formation and function. Here, we’ll introduce Slide-seq, a technology which enables transcriptome-wide measurements with near-single cell spatial resolution. We’ll describe recent experimental and computational advances to enable Slide-seq in biological contexts in biological contexts where high detection sensitivity is important. More broadly, we’ll discuss the promise and challenges of spatial transcriptomics for tissue genomics. Lastly, we’ll touch upon novel molecular recording technologies, which allows recording of the absolute time dynamics of gene expression in live systems into DNA sequences.
Bio: Dr. Fei Chen is currently a Core Faculty member at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and Assistant Professor at Harvard Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology. During the course of his doctoral research, Chen co-invented expansion microscopy, a breakthrough technique that allows for super-resolution imaging of biological samples with conventional light microscopes. As an independent Fellow at the Broad, his lab continued to pioneer novel tools at the intersection of genomics and microscopy to uniquely illuminate biological pathways and function. These include, Slide-seq, a novel technology for transcriptome-wide gene expression profiling with near-single-cell spatial resolution. At Harvard and as a Core Member of the Broad Institute, Dr. Chen’s laboratory sets out to build a set of tools which will bridge single-cell genomics with space and time – to enable discoveries of where cell types are localized within intact tissues, when relevant transcriptional modules are active. To do this, the lab is developing novel technologies at the intersection of microscopy, genomics, and synthetic biology. We are applying these tools to learn organizational principles governing neurodevelopment, and cellular mechanisms of disorganization during neuronal injury and disease. He obtained his Ph.D. in biological engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with Ed Boyden. Dr. Chen was a Schmidt Fellow at the Broad Institute. His awards include the National Institutes of Health Director’s Early Independence Award and the Allen Distinguished Investigator Award
