CTID Seminar: Dr. Carl Anderson 5/13/19
Location: Egleston Classrooms 8 & 9
"Using High-Throughput Sequencing to Understand the Causal Biology of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Risk and Progression"
Carl Anderson is a faculty member in the Human Genetics Programme at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge, UK, where he heads the Genomics of Inflammation and Immunity group (www.andersonlab.info). Carl is a statistical geneticist by training and his work revolves around the use of large-scale genetic and genomic data to understand the biological basis of complex immune-mediated diseases, with a strong focus on inflammatory bowel disease.
Carl’s team have led many of the genome-wide association studies that have together identified 240 loci significantly associated with IBD risk. Much of this work was undertaken via the UK and/or International IBD Genetics consortia, where Carl’s group plays a leading analytical role. Carl’s group is currently working on a number of large-scale projects using high-throughput sequencing to examine the role of rare genetic variants in IBD, and understand how IBD associated variants perturb normal immune cell functions to bring about disease. In 2017, Carl’s group expanded its work to include lab-based research, and are currently undertaking a number of functional follow-up studies and genome-wide CRISPR screens to facilitate the identification of novel drug targets for IBD. Carl’s team currently consists of 13 scientists from a broad range of backgrounds, including genetics, mathematics, computer science, cell biology, immunology and medicine.