CRISPR Brown Bag Lunch Series

With the CRISPR Forum we wish to continue and deepen the conversation on editing genomes with CRISPR that we have begun with an international symposium in October 2017. It is organized by the University of Vienna’s Department of Ecogenomics and Systems Biology, the Department of Science and Technology Studies, and the Research Platform Responsible Research and Innovation.

20.03.2019 12:00-13:30

3rd CRISPR Brown Bag Lunch with Anna Poetsch

"Molecular challenges to make genome editing safe"

Moderation: Melina Kerou

When: March 20, 2019, 12.00-13.30
Where: Library of the Department of Science and Technology Studies, University of Vienna, Neues Institutsgebäude, Universitätsstraße 7/6th floor

All are welcome! No registration needed.

Abstract: Genome editing has now become a major workhorse in biomedical research and there are high hopes for its applicability in the clinic—so high that even in embryos editing is already attempted without knowing whether it is safe. How does genome editing work on the molecular level? And why is there an inherent risk of it going wrong? This talk is about the attempts that molecular biology labs are taking to reduce unintended effects, to increase precision of genome editing and to find ways to know when it has gone wrong.

Anna Poetsch is a computational biologist working on the genomics of DNA damage and repair, the precision and predictability of genome editing. With a background in biochemical cancer research she works as a senior scientist at the St. Anna Children’s Cancer Research Institute elucidating the mechanisms of how mutations happen in the genome and why some regions of the genome are more susceptible than others with potential serious consequences.  

09.01.2019 12:00-13:15

2nd CRISPR Brown Bag Lunch with Christiane Druml

"A brave new future?"

Moderation: Ingrid Metzler

When: January 9, 2019, 12.00-13.15
Where: Library of the Department of Science and Technology Studies, University of Vienna, Neues Institutsgebäude, Universitätsstraße 7/6th floor

All are welcome!

Christiane Druml was born in Vienna and studied law at the University of Vienna. Since 2012 she has been director of the Josephinum - Collections of the Medical University of Vienna. Since 2016, she holds the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics at the Medical University of Vienna. She also serves as Deputy Director and Key Researcher of the Bioethics Research Group at the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Rare and Undiagnosed Diseases. From 2011 to 2015 she was Vice Rector for Clinical Affairs of the Medical University of Vienna. She has chaired the Bioethics Commission at the Federal Chancellery since 2007, and is also a member of the Supreme Medical Council. Her research interests include bioethics, clinical research and good scientific practice.

11.06.2018 12:00

1st CRISPR Brown Bag Lunch with Florian Grebien

Scientific and social implications of the CRISPR technology

Moderation: Lisa Sigl

When: June 11, 2018, 12.00-14.00
Where: Library of the Department of Science and Technology Studies, University of Vienna, Neues Institutsgebäude, Universitätsstraße 7/6th floor

All are welcome, but please RSVP (sending a message to corinna.wegscheider@univie.ac.at) by June 07, 2018 to ensure that we have enough food and drinks.

Florian Grebien did his PhD jointly supervised by Ernst Müllner of the Medical University Vienna and Hartmut Beug of the Research Institute for Molecular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna. For his post-doctoral research he joined the team of Giulio Superti-Furga at the Research Center for Molecular Medicine (CeMM), Vienna. Since 2014 he leads an independent research team at the LBI-CR. In January 2018, he was appointed Professor and head of the Institute for Medical Biochemistry at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna. Dr. Grebien's research is funded by the starting grant "ONCOMECHAML" from the European Research Council (ERC). Florian Grebien’s research focuses on acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a cancer of white blood cells that is characterized by the rapid growth of abnormal myeloid cells that accumulate in the bone marrow and interfere with the production of normal blood cells. The laboratory of Florian Grebien aims to contribute to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of leukemia development through the development and use of novel tools for functional evaluation of oncogenic aberrations.