Inaugural Symposium of the Evolutionary Medical Genomics Program

20-22 November 2024

About

Our evolutionary history has shaped our genomes and thus our susceptibility to disease. Each patient can be viewed as the result of an evolutionary process that started billions of years ago and continues to this day. Genomic diversity emerges as a signature of this evolutionary process: across phyla, across species, across populations and across cells. Exploiting this diversity to improve human health is the overarching goal of Evolutionary Medical Genomics. This emergent discipline lies at the intersection of two larger disciplines: medical genomics and evolutionary medicine. While medical genomics is providing invaluable insights into human disease, approaching it through the principles of evolution, inspired by evolutionary medicine, promises novel discoveries and methodologies.

Research in Evolutionary Medical Genomics includes a wide range of topics, all of which have in common their evolutionary approach to understanding and/or tackling human disease. These include personalized medicine, evolution of disease, comparative genomic models of disease, evolution of ageing, cancer evolution, microbial pathogenicity and microbiome-host (co-)evolution, viruses, and evolutionary immunology.

The first symposium of the joint program on Evolutionary Medical Genomics of the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) and the Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (IBE-CSIC), will bring together researchers from all these areas. Recent and ongoing advances in medical genomics and the increasing diversity of available genomes make this symposium very timely to attract both evolutionary biologists working on disease-relevant projects as well as other researchers interested in human health, from biomedical researchers to clinicians, who are intrigued by a novel way of thinking about disease. The talks of the symposium will be accessible to a very broad audience as all the speakers are used to speaking to a non-specialized public and will cover diverse topics as well as the related methodologies and model systems.

Download the Book of Abstracts:

Keynote Speakers:

Debbie Marks, Harvard Medical School
Sandy Anderson, Moffitt Cancer Centre

Invited Speakers:

Aleksandra Walczak, Ecole normale supérieure-PSL
Astrid Iversen, University of Oxford
Donate Weghorn, Centre for Genomic Regulation
Elizabeth Murchison, University of Cambridge
Emma Teeling, University College Dublin
Jamie Blundell, University of Cambridge
Mireia Valles-Colomer, University Pompeu Fabra
Nicolas Rohner, University of Münster
Peter Sudmant, UC Berkeley
Toni Gabaldon, BSC-IRB Barcelona
Todd Macfarlan, NICHD-NIH
Tony Capra, UC San Francisco

Scientific Organizers:

Amelie Baud, CRG, Group Leader of the EvoMG Program
Jonathan Frazer, CRG, Group Leader of the EvoMG Program
Mafalda Dias, CRG, Group Leader of the EvoMG Program
Manuel Irimia, UPF-CRG, Group Leader of the EvoMG Program

Program

Day 1 - November 20, 2024

13:30	Registration opens: PRBB Auditorium
14:30	Welcome and Opening remarks Manuel Irimia, Coordinator of the Evolutionary Medical Genomics Research Program Salvador Carranza, Director of the IBE (CSIC/UPF) (5’) Luis Serrano, Director of the CRG (5’) Cristina Pujades, Vice-Rector of Research, UPF (5’) Javier Selva Sánchez, Director General of Transfer and Knowledge Society, Catalan Ministry of Research and Universities (5’)
15:00	Keynote 1: "Deep generative models for prediction and design in disease" Debbie Marks, Harvard Medical School Chair: Jonathan Frazer / Mafalda Dias, EvoMG Program and CRG
	Session 1: Microbial pathogenicity and microbiome-host (co-)evolution Chair: Amelie Baud, EvoMG Program and CRG
16:00	"Within host evolution and transmission dynamics of the human microbiome" Mireia Valles-Colomer, EvoMG Program and University Pompeu Fabra
16:35	"Tracing the origins and recent evolution of emerging yeast pathogens" Toni Gabaldon, Barcelona Supercomputing Centre-IRB Barcelona
17:10	Contributed talk "Machine learning classifiers reveal the evolutionary drivers of virulence and drug resistance in the fungal pathogen Candida parapsilosis" Miquel Àngel Schikora Tamarit, Barcelona Supercomputing Centre-IRB Barcelona
17:30	Welcome drinks

Day 2 - November 21, 2024

09:00	Late registration, PRBB Auditorium
	Session 2: Viral evolution, transposons and evolutionary immunology Chair: Bernardo Rodriguez, EvoMG Program and CRG
09:30	"How personalised is your immune repertoire?" Aleksandra Walczak, Ecole normale supérieure-PSL
10:05	"How KRAB-zinc finger proteins emerge to fight invading retroviruses in mammals" Todd S. Macfarlan, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development - NIH
10:40	Contributed talk "Adaptation in Human immune cells residing in tissues at the frontline of infections" Irepan Salvador, Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico
11:00	Coffee break
	Session 3: Evolutionary history of disease Chair: Elena Bosch, EvoMG Program and IBE (CSIC-UPF)
11:30	"My ancestor was a Neanderthal. Should I see a doctor?" Tony Capra, UC San Francisco
12:05	"Population genetics and disease - how the past shapes health today" Astrid Iversen, University of Oxford
12:40	Contributed talk "Genomic Insights into the Evolutionary Nature of Autism Spectrum Disorder" Ariadna Bada i Navarro, University of Barcelona
13:00	Lunch
	Session 4: Comparative genomic models of disease Chair: Arnau Sebé-Pedrós, EvoMG Program and CRG
14:00	"Transmissible cancers: when cancer cells become infectious agents" Elizabeth Murchison, University of Cambridge
14:35	"Metabolic Adaptation to Nutrient Limitation in Vertebrates" Nicolas Rohner, University of Münster
15:10	Contributed talk "Evolutionary reversion in tumorigenesis" Yosuke Nagahata, IBE (CSIC-UPF)
15:30	Coffee break and posters
	Session 5: Evolutionary cancer genomics Chair: Francesc Calafell, EvoMG Program and IBE (CSIC-UPF)
17:00	"Inference of the mutational processes and the mode of growth governing tumor evolution" Donate Weghorn, EvoMG Program and Centre for Genomic Regulation
17:35	"The dynamics of genetic and epigenetic alterations in the decades preceding blood cancer diagnosis " Jamie Blundell, University of Cambridge
18:10	Contributed talk "Evolution of the p53/MDM2 interface leads to gain of functions in development and tumour suppression" Konstantinos Karakostis, IMIM

Day 3 - November 22, 2024

09:00	Late registration, PRBB Auditorium
	Session 6: Evolution of aging Chair: Arcadi Navarro, EvoMG Program, CRG and IBE (CSIC-UPF)
09:30	"Global diversity, recurrent evolution, and recent selection on amylase structural haplotypes in humans" Peter H. Sudmant, UC Berkeley
10:05	"How do bats limit expected ageing and disease?" Emma C. Teeling, University College Dublin
10:40	Contributed talk "Interrogating osteoarthritis-related regulatory dynamics in primates using skeletal cell culture systems" Genevieve Housman, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
11:00	Coffee break
11:30	Keynote 2: "Evolutionary Therapy" Sandy Anderson, Moffitt Cancer Centre Chair: James Sharpe, Head of EMBL Barcelona
12:30	Closing remarks and poster prize: Manuel Irimia, Coordinator of the EvoMG Program, UPF-CRG

Call for abstracts

Abstract submissions for poster presentation and flash talks is now open and can be done via the registration link. At the time of submission, you will be asked to indicate if you want your poster to be considered for a flash talk presentation as well.

General Information

Language: All abstracts must be written in English.

Deadline: abstracts MUST BE RECEIVED no later than October 15th, 2024

Notification of acceptance: will be mailed by October 18th, 2024. Only the presenting/first author will receive the email notification of acceptance or rejection, and is responsible for informing all co-authors of the status of the abstract.

Content of the Abstract

Abstracts are limited to 300 words.

Abstracts must contain: title, authors, primary institution, purpose of the study, methods used, summary of the results and conclusion reached.

Abstracts will be published as submitted. Proof and edit your submission accordingly.

Information for poster presenters: The poster space will be 90 x 120 cm (width x height), which corresponds to DIN-A0 VERTICAL layout.