School of Biomedical Sciences cordially invites you to join the following RGC GRF/ECS 2022-23: Online Brainstorming Workshop Zoom Lecture:

Date: Monday, 23 August 2021
Time: 4:00 pm
Format: Conduct via Zoom
Zoom link: https://hku.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcod-6vpjgjG9UhJU70lpLYS-agBGCG3Ddf
Meeting ID: 935 0778 3911
Passcode: 437143

Professor Burkhard Becher

Institute of Experimental Immunology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

Title: Mapping the Immune System in chronic inflammatory diseases: One cell at a time

Abstract: Chronic inflammatory diseases are mediated by dysregulated immune homeostasis. However, there are still great gaps in our knowledge of inflammatory cascades, in particular in patients who suffer from chronic inflammation. Such knowledge may help to identify biomarkers aiding the diagnosis of the monitoring of disease activity and the identification of therapeutic targets to stop chronic inflammation. One reason for the lack of solid biomarkers is the hypothesis-driven nature of investigations, which bias the investigation toward arbitrarily classified cell subsets and biomarkers. The increasing number of parameters which can be measured simultaneously allow for the concomitant characterization of phenotypic and functional properties at the single cell level and led to major discoveries including new cell types, stratifying biomarkers and disease-relevant signatures. The emergence of cytometers capable of measuring more than 100 parameters simultaneously and in large cohort of patients, brings about a new area of biomarker discovery, where intelligent algorithms and computer-aided analysis allow for a thus far unprecedented view onto the single cell proteome. I will discuss recent advances in single cell technologies and how we apply this technology to immunophenotype patients with inflammatory disease for the identification of disease-relevant signatures for diagnosis, patient stratification and therapy responses.

Biography: Burkhard Becher studied Biology at the University of Cologne in Germany and specialized in Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry. In 1995, for his graduate studies he went to the Montreal Neurological Inst. at McGill University in Canada to train in Neuroimmunology with Jack Antel. His work focused on the role of microglia cells as brain-resident myeloid cells capable of instructing self-reactive T cells in the context of autoimmune neuro-inflammation. In 1999 he joined the lab of Randy Noelle at the Dartmouth Medical School to extend his work to in vivo models and transgenic mice. In 2003, he was recruited as Assistant Professor to the Neurology Department at the University Hospital of Zurich. There he continued to define the cytokine networks in inflammation. In 2008, he became full professor and chairman at the Institute of Experimental Immunology at the University of Zurich and heads the Unit for Inflammation Research.

All are welcome

Should you have any enquiries, please feel free to contact Miss River Wong at 3917 9216.