EMBL Seminars

Connection details
Zoom*: https://embl-org.zoom.us/j/92439170348?pwd=pcdoPcEmYsUbcBenS0SoeM0pF23CPg.1  

(Meeting ID: 924 3917 0348, Password: 717935)

Please note that the talk will be recorded.
*For the FAQ section, as a zoom participant, please use either the chat function (the host will read out your question) or the “raise your hand” function and turn on your microphone.

Abstract
Professionals working in core facilities and scientific services will share their career paths and experiences transitioning from academia into service-oriented scientific roles. Join this webinar to gain insights into daily work in core facilities, the skills required to succeed, key differences compared to PhD or postdoctoral research, and practical advice for those considering a similar career move.

Please register for this zoom webinar: https://embl-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_f2QNItDPSoq0EUxi5qPfdw

Please note that the talk will be recorded.
*For the FAQ section, as a zoom participant, please use either the chat function (the host will read out your question).

Abstract
Super-resolution microscopy has opened new possibilities for visualizing chromatin architecture in situ at nanoscale resolution. Leveraging quantitative super-resolution imaging, we revealed the heterogeneous nature of nucleosome folding and demonstrated that chromatin structure at both nano- and meso-scales is highly plastic, dynamically remodeling in response to chemical and mechanical cues in health and disease. By combining biologically interpretable feature extraction with machine learning, we further showed that cells can be accurately classified into distinct states based solely on their multi-scale chromatin organization, while also identifying the specific chromatin features that drive classification, thus offering mechanistic insight into cell-state regulation.

NOTE: THIS TALK WILL TAKE PLACE VIA ZOOM, WITH THE OPTION TO ATTEND IN-PERSON AT EMBL HAMBURG FOR PEOPLE BASED AT DESY

Abstract
From fundamental discovery at EMBL to founding the circadian medicine startup Timeteller. 

About the speaker
Prof. Dr. Angela Relógio is a systems biologist, entrepreneur, and internationally recognized expert in circadian biology, systems medicine, and computational modelling.
She currently serves as Professor of Systems Medicine at the Medical School Hamburg (MSH). She has led interdisciplinary research groups investigating how the body’s biological clock regulates gene activity, cellular processes, and disease mechanisms.
Her research focuses particularly on understanding how circadian rhythms influence disease development and treatment responses, especially in cancer biology. While leading research groups at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and later at Medical School Hamburg, she pioneered work integrating systems biology, molecular biology, and mathematical modelling to uncover disease-driving mechanisms.
Prof. Relógio holds a joint PhD in Biomedical Sciences (Molecular and Cellular Biology) from the University of Lisbon and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), graduating summa cum laude. She also holds a diploma in Technological-Physics Engineering and postgraduate training in Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering from the University of Lisbon. She completed her habilitation in Molecular Biology and Bioinformatics at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin in 2016.
Her scientific career includes research positions at EMBL Heidelberg and Charité, where she later became Research Group Leader for Systems Biology of Cancer and a faculty member of the Berlin School of Integrative Oncology.
Driven by the insight that the effectiveness and side effects of treatments can strongly depend on biological timing, Prof. Relógio translated her scientific discoveries into a diagnostic technology designed to measure an individual’s internal clock. This work ultimately led to the creation of TimeTeller®, with the goal of bringing chronomedicine into clinical practice and preventive healthcare.
Through TimeTeller, she aims to bridge the gap between academic research and medical innovation, empowering patients and healthcare professionals to use circadian rhythm–based insights to improve health outcomes.

TimeTeller® is a spin-off from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, one of Germany’s leading university hospitals and biomedical research institutions. The company was founded in Hamburg in 2023 to translate cutting-edge research in circadian biology into practical diagnostic tools that enable personalised and time-based medicine.
TimeTeller has three co-founders: Prof. Dr. Angela Relógio, Dr. Benjamin Dose, and the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, represented by its technology transfer partner ascension GmbH.

We ask all participants (in-person or online) to register via zoom: https://embl-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_gB6p0wm1QcS2FHIkkxWBTw#/registration 

Please note that the talk will be recorded.
*For the FAQ section, as a zoom participant, please use  the Q&A function (the host will read out your question).

Communities in the research sector are diverse and form in different ways for a myriad of reasons, yet often researchers find themselves disconnected from one another. Community building is one way to address this disconnect, it is the act of bringing people together under a common goal. In this webinar, Piv Gopalasingam, EMBL-EBI scientific training officer and EMBL Staff Association co-Chair, will introduce the skills you can develop and utilise to build and maintain a community, provide tips and tricks to help assess your group’s needs, and discuss common pitfalls to avoid.

Speakers: Piv Gopalasingam, EMBL-EBI scientific training officer and EMBL Staff Association co-Chair

Connection details
Zoom*: please register at https://embl-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_jCXJMjqiSLWY9rdAPrA-sw 

Please note that the talk will be recorded.
*For the Q&A section, as a zoom participant, please use the Q&A function and the host will read out the questions.

Abstract

Epigenetic components regulate many biological phenomena during development and normal physiology. When dysregulated, epigenetic components can also accompany or drive diseases. One main class of epigenetic components are Polycomb group proteins. Originally, Polycomb proteins were shown to silence gene expression. We found that this function involves the regulation of 3D chromosome folding and we found that Polycomb components can induce the formation of long-distance interactions or chromatin loops that may play instructive roles in gene regulation as well as serve as scaffolding elements that contribute to enhancer-promoter specificity. Perturbation of Polycomb components is involved in human cancer and leads to tumorigenesis in flies. Surprisingly, even upon a transient depletion followed by restoration of the full Polycomb compendium, epithelial cells lose their normal differentiated fate, continue proliferating and establish aggressive tumors, demonstrating that cancer can have a fully epigenetic origin. Similarly, transient perturbation of histone acetylation in mouse ES cells and gastruloids shows that they can record chromatin changes and that this results in cellular memory of the perturbation states. The implication of these data will be discussed.