Alex K. Shalek, PhD
Pfizer-Laubach Career Development Associate Professor
Institute for Medical Engineering & Science
Department of Chemistry and Koch Institute
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract: While several methods exist for sampling tissues in clinical contexts, without high-fidelity tools for comprehensively profiling them, we are both limited in our capacity to understand how constituent cells and their interactions impact prognosis, and to select and develop precision therapeutics. Recent years have witnessed transformative and intersecting advances in nanofabrication and molecular biology that now enable deep profiling of low-input samples. Collectively, these afford new and exciting opportunities to study cellular heterogeneity, starting from the level of the single cell, and may unlock the diagnostic, prognostic, and discovery potential of clinical isolates. Illustratively, I will introduce how we can leverage single-cell genomic approaches – and, in particular, single-cell RNA-Seq – to explore the extensive functional diversity between cells, uncovering, from the “bottom-up,” distinct cell states and their molecular drivers. Moreover, I will discuss high-throughput experimental strategies and demonstrate, in the context of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, how they can be leveraged to achieve the statistical power necessary to reconstruct intracellular circuits, enumerate and redefine cell states and types, and transform our understanding of cellular decision-making in health and disease on a genomic scale.
Bio: Alex K. Shalek is currently the Pfizer-Laubach Career Development Associate Professor at MIT, as well as a Core Member of the Institute for Medical Engineering and Science (IMES), an Associate Professor of Chemistry, and an Extramural Member of The Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. He is also an Institute Member of the Broad Institute, an Associate Member of the Ragon Institute, an Assistant in Immunology at MGH, and an Instructor in Health Sciences and Technology at HMS. His research is directed towards the development and application of new technologies that facilitate understanding of how cells collectively perform systems-level functions in healthy and diseased states. Dr. Shalek received his bachelor’s degree summa cum laude from Columbia University and his Ph.D. from Harvard University in chemical physics under the guidance of Hongkun Park, and performed postdoctoral training under Hongkun Park and Aviv Regev (Broad/MIT). To date, his interdisciplinary research has focused on realizing and utilizing nanoscale manipulation and measurement technologies to examine how small components (molecules, cells) drive systems of vast complexity (cellular responses, population behaviors).
Dear WMIS trainees, colleagues and friends,
We welcome you to join our upcoming virtual WMIS – Stanford Diversity conference on September 9-11, 2020. We are coming together to reinforce our commitment to diversity and to provide a forum for our team members to engage in meaningful discussions. The conference will provide keynote lectures, scientific presentations and educational lectures from leaders and pioneers in the field, who will discuss important topics related to racial justice, women in STEM and Global Health. We are also offering breakout sessions whereby carefully selected individuals will facilitate a discussion about how to implement more supportive and inclusive practices into our daily professional and personal life. The breakout sessions are designed to enable active involvement of smaller groups where people feel safe to discuss current challenges in the STEM field and actionable solutions.
This conference is free of charge and will provide 9.5 CME credits. Abstracts of all conference presentations and a summary of discussion points and insights provided by all conference participants will be published in Molecular Imaging & Biology. The organizing committee will provide 10 trainee prizes in the form of free WMIS memberships to conference attendants for the 2021 WMIC in Miami.
Website: https://www.wmislive.org
Radiology Department-Wide Research Meeting
• Curt Langlotz, MD, PhD: Overview of the AIMI Center
• Brian Hargreaves, PhD: Research Details from Town Hall, Q&A, and COVID19 Updates
Location: Zoom – Details can be found here: https://radresearch.stanford.edu
Meetings will be the 3rd Friday of each month.
Hosted by: Brian Hargreaves, PhD
Sponsored by: the the Department of Radiology
Radiology Department-Wide Research Meeting
Location: Zoom – Details can be found here: https://radresearch.stanford.edu
Meetings will be the 3rd Friday of each month.
February 19 Speakers:
Bruce Daniel, MD – Center Overview: IMMERS
Jennifer McNab, PhD – Encoding and Decoding Diffusion MRI
Hosted by: Brian Hargreaves, PhD
Sponsored by: the the Department of Radiology
Radiology Department-Wide Research Meeting
• Dominik Fleischmann, MD: 3DQ Lab Overview
• Tom Soh, PhD: Research Updates
Location: Zoom – Details can be found here: https://radresearch.stanford.edu
Meetings will be the 3rd Friday of each month.
Hosted by: Brian Hargreaves, PhD
Sponsored by: the the Department of Radiology
Radiology Department-Wide Research Meeting
• Research Announcements
• Michelle James, PhD – Detecting and Tracking Immune Responses in the Brain and Beyond using PET
• Ryan Spitler, PhD – Precision Health and Integrated Diagnostics (PHIND) Center
Location: Zoom – Details can be found here: https://radresearch.stanford.edu
Meetings will be the 3rd Friday of each month.
Hosted by: Brian Hargreaves, PhD
Sponsored by: the the Department of Radiology
Targeted violence continues against Black Americans, Asian Americans, and all people of color. The department of radiology diversity committee is running a racial equity challenge to raise awareness of systemic racism, implicit bias and related issues. Participants will be provided a list of resources on these topics such as articles, podcasts, videos, etc., from which they can choose, with the “challenge” of engaging with one to three media sources prior to our session (some videos are as short as a few minutes). Participants will meet in small-group breakout sessions to discuss what they’ve learned and share ideas.
Please reach out to Marta Flory, flory@stanford.edu with questions. For details about the session, including recommended resources and the Zoom link, please reach out to Meke Faaoso at mfaaoso@stanford.edu.
Radiology Department-Wide Research Meeting
• Research Announcements
• Koen Nieman, M.D., PhD – Coronary Artery Disease by Computed Tomography
• Martin Willemink, M.D., PhD – Translating Emerging Cardiovascular CT Techniques into the Clinical Setting
Location: Zoom – Details can be found here: https://radresearch.stanford.edu
Meetings will be the 3rd Friday of each month.
Hosted by: Daniel Ennis, PhD
Sponsored by: the the Department of Radiology
Join us for the 11th biennial International Conference on Functional Imaging and Modeling of the Heart (FIMH). FIMH-2021 will celebrate 20 years of bringing together friends, colleagues, and collaborators to share and discuss the latest in cardiac and cardiovascular imaging, electrophysiology, computational modeling, and translational applications. The event will take place June 21-25, 2021 virtually, via Livestream, Zoom meeting workshops, and Spatial Chat networking.
Sponsored by: Functional Imaging and Modeling of the Heart Conference
Radiology Department-Wide Research Meeting
• Research Announcements
• Mirabela Rusu, PhD – Learning MRI Signatures of Aggressive Prostate Cancer: Bridging the Gap between Digital Pathologists and Digital Radiologists
• Akshay Chaudhari, PhD – Data-Efficient Machine Learning for Medical Imaging
Location: Zoom – Details can be found here: https://radresearch.stanford.edu
Meetings will be the 3rd Friday of each month.
Hosted by: Kawin Setsompop, PhD
Sponsored by: the the Department of Radiology