Dr Peter Campbell, Head of Cancer Genetics and Genomics, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Abstract
Cancer is driven by mutation. Using massively parallel sequencing technology, we can now sequence the entire genome of cancer samples, allowing the generation of comprehensive catalogues of somatic mutations of all classes. Bespoke algorithms have been developed to identify somatically acquired point mutations, copy number changes and genomic rearrangements, which require extensive validation by confirmatory testing. The findings from our first handful of genomes illustrate the potential for next-generation sequencing to provide unprecedented insights into mutational processes, cellular repair pathways and gene networks associated with cancer development. I will also review possible applications of these technologies in a diagnostic and clinical setting, and the potential routes for translation.
Biography
Dr Peter Campbell is Head of Cancer Genetics and Genomics at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, having started a Wellcome Trust Senior Clinical Fellowship in 2010. He completed specialist training in Haematology in New Zealand and Australia in 2002. Following this, he completed a PhD at the University of Cambridge in the molecular pathogenesis of myeloproliferative disorders. Since 2007, Dr Campbell has been employed at the Cancer Genome Project, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.
His major interest is cancer genomics, and in particular genome-wide analyses of somatic mutations in tumours. The four major areas of interest have been:
• the discovery of new cancer genes;
• the identification of somatic mutation processes operative in tumours;
• the characterisation of patterns of cancer evolution; and
• the translation of these fundamental insights about cancer biology into
better management of patients.
Further details are available at: http://www.sanger.ac.uk/research/faculty/pcampbell/
ALL WELCOME