Tile: Chronoepigenetics of human disease
Abstract: In addition to genetics and environment, disease phenotypes are shaped by epigenetic modifications. Progress in uncovering the epigenetic basis of disease, however, depends on how well we understand the fundamental principles of epigenomic regulation. Our group has recently discovered that epigenetically modified cytosines oscillate in a circadian (or diurnal) fashion. I will provide a series of reasons indicating that malfunction of chronoepigenetic factors can help understanding a number of clinical and molecular findings in human diseases. Since circadian and epigenetic parameters can be modified by diet, lifestyle, and medications, therapeutic interventions rectifying circadian aberrations may be used to reduce disease risk, or at least delay its age of onset.
Biography: Art Petronis graduated from Kaunas Medical University, Lithuania, and he worked on his PhD at the Brain Research Institute in Moscow. Dr Petronis completed his post-doctoral training at the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, Toronto, and since 1997 he has been a faculty at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and University of Toronto. Currently Dr. Petronis is Professor and Head of the Krembil Family Epigenetics Laboratory. From 2010 till 2020 he held the Tapscott Chair for Schizophrenia Studies at the University of Toronto. He has a secondary appointment at the Life Science Centre, Vilnius University, in Lithuania. His research is dedicated to the elucidation of the role of epigenetic factors in complex diseases. Lately he became obsessed with the temporal dimension and promotes the concept of chrono-epigenetics. Dr. Petronis published over 100 papers and book chapters (but only 5 of them are worth reading).
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