Computational and Statistical Genomics Lab

RESEARCH IN THE CSG LAB

The genome serves as a blueprint of the body, with highly detailed regulatory instructions that activate, repress, or modify dynamic programs of gene expression across cell types and tissues. The gene products, in turn, are responsible for reading and executing these regulatory instructions. At the CSG lab, we develop and apply data-driven computational methods to characterize these regulatory instructions and understand how their malfunction can affect the cell and, subsequently, human health.

Our research encompasses the study of transcription factors, RNA-binding proteins, and non-coding RNAs. We combine machine learning and statistical inference with large genomics datasets to characterize the regulatory networks of these factors and their role in determining cell identity and function, and use these models in combination with patient data to uncover the basis of human diseases.

TRANSCRIPTIONAL REGLUATION

The human genome encodes more than 1700 transcription factors, representing a massively complex system in which hundreds of proteins work together to affect chromatin organization and gene expression. We combine machine-learning with genomics, epigenomics, and transcriptomics data at the bulk-tissue and single-cell level to develop predictive models of DNA-binding by transcription factors, understand how they interact with different components of the chromatin, and reveal their role in regulating the chromatin state and gene expression.


Selected publications:

Corchado and Najafabadi, Genome Biol, 2022
Najafabadi et al., Genome Biol, 2017
Najafabadi et al., Nat Biotechnol, 2015

POST-TRANSCRIPTIONAL REGULATION

The abundance of each mRNA is determined by the combined effect of its production, processing, and decay rates. A large number of factors in the human cell can potentially influence mRNA stability and splicing, including more than 390 RNA-binding proteins and 3,600 microRNAs. We develop novel algorithms that enable us to quantify mRNA splicing and stability from bulk-tissue and single-cell transcriptome profiling data, and use them to uncover the roles of RNA-binding proteins and microRNAs in regulating the transcriptome across different tissues and cell types.

Selected publications:

Alkallas et al., Nat Commun, 2017
Goodarzi et al., Nature, 2012
Ray et al., Nature, 2013

DYSREGULATED PROGRAMS IN CANCER

Various human diseases, from metabolic disorders to developmental disorders and cancer, can be caused by defects in regulatory programs that modulate gene expression at transcriptional or post-transcriptional level. These regulatory disruptions particularly underlie the extensive transformation of the cancer cell identity and behaviour. A main focus of our research is to identify factors whose dysregulation drives the development and progression of cancer, by combining novel computational methods with large compendiums of genomics, epigenomics and transcriptomics data. 

Selected publications:

Perron et al., Cell Rep, 2018
Perron et al., Commun Biol, 2022
Fish et al., Science, 2021

PUBLICATIONS

* Corresponding author
† Equal contribution

– – – – – – Preprints – – – – – –


Madrigal A, Lu T, Soto LM, Najafabadi HS*. A unified model for interpretable latent embedding of multi-sample, multi-condition single-cell data. bioRxiv doi:10.1101/2023.08.15.553327.

Software: Download the source code.
Code: Download the reproducible analysis notebooks.


Blackburn DM, Sahinyan K, Corchado AH, Lazure F, Richard V, Raco L, Zahedi RP, Borchers CH, Lepper C, Kawabe H, Jahani-Asl A, Najafabadi HS, Soleimani V. The E3 Ubiquitin Ligase Nedd4L Acts as a Checkpoint Against Activation in Quiescent Muscle Stem Cells. bioRxiv doi:10.1101/2023.05.10.540205.


Dogan B †, Kailasam S †, Corchado AH, Naghmeh Nikpoor, Najafabadi HS *. A domain-resolution map of in vivo DNA binding reveals the regulatory consequences of somatic mutations in zinc finger transcription factors. bioRxiv doi:10.1101/630756.

Software: Download the source code.

– – – – – – 2023 – – – – – –


Lazure F †, Farouni R †, Sahinyan K, Blackburn DM, Corchado AH, Perron G, Lu T, Osakwe A, Ragoussis J, Crist C, Perkins TJ, Jahani-Asl A, Najafabadi HS*, Soleimani VD* (2023). Transcriptional Reprogramming of Skeletal Muscle Stem Cells by the Niche Environment. Nat Commun, 14:535. PMID 36726011

Code: Download the reproducible notebooks.


Zhang W, Najafabadi HS, Li Y (2023). SparsePro: an efficient genome-wide fine-mapping method integrating summary statistics and functional annotations. PLoS Genet, 19(12):e1011104, PMID 38153934

Software: Download the source code.


Ray D, Laverty KU, Jolma A, Nie K, Samson R, Pour SE, Tam CL,  von Krosigk N, Nabeel-Shah S, Albu M, Zheng H, Perron G, Lee H, Najafabadi HS, Blencowe B, Greenblatt J, Morris Q, Hughes TR (2023). RNA-binding proteins that lack canonical RNA-binding domains are rarely sequence-specific. Sci Rep, 13:5238. PMID 37002329.


Kejiou NS, Ilan L, Aigner S, Luo E, Tonn T, Ozadam H, Lee M, Cole GB, Rabano I, Rajakulendran N, Yee BA, Najafabadi HS, Moraes TF, Angers S, Yeo GW, Cenik C, Palazzo AF (2023). Pyruvate Kinase M (PKM) binds ribosomes in a poly-ADP ribosylation dependent manner to induce translational stalling. Nucleic Acids Res, 51(12):6461-6478. PMID 37224531.

– – – – – – 2022 – – – – – –


Perron G, Jandaghi P, Moslemi E, Nishimura T, Rajaee M, Alkallas R, Lu T, Riazalhosseini Y,  Najafabadi HS* (2022). Pan-cancer analysis of mRNA stability for decoding tumour post-transcriptional programs. Commun Biol, 5:851. PMID 35987939.

Supplementary data: Visit the web supplement and Zenodo repository.
Software: Download the source code.


Corchado AH, Najafabadi HS* (2022). Toward a base-resolution panorama of the in vivo impact of cytosine methylation on transcription factor binding. Genome Biol, 23:151. PMID 35799193.

Software: Download the source code.
Supplementary data: Visit the Zenodo repository. 


Moldoveanu D, Ramsay L, Lajoie M, Anderson-Trocme L, Lingrand M, Berry D, Perus LJM, Wei Y, Moraes C, Alkallas R, Rajkumar S, Zuo D, Dankner M, Xu EH, Bertos NR, Najafabadi HS, Gravel S, Costantino S, Richer MJ, Lund AW, Del Rincon SV, Spatz A, Miller WH Jr, Jamal R, Lapointe R, Mes-Masson AM, Turcotte S, Petrecca K, Dumitra S, Meguerditchian AN, Richardson K, Tremblay F, Wang B, Chergui M, Guiot MC, Watters K, Stagg J, Quail DF, Mihalcioiu C, Meterissian S, Watson IR (2022). Spatially mapping the immune landscape of melanoma using imaging mass cytometry. Sci Immunol, 7:eabi5072. PMID 35363543.


Alkallas R, Najafabadi HS* (2022). Analysis of mRNA dynamics using RNA sequencing data. In: Jahani-Asl A (eds) Neuronal Cell Death. Methods Mol Biol 2515:129-150. Humana Press, New York, NY. PMID 35776350.

– – – – – – 2021 – – – – – –


Sharanek A, Burban A, Corchado AH, Madrigal A, Fatakdawala I, Najafabadi HS, Soleimani VD, Jahani-Asl A (2021). Transcriptional control of brain tumor stem cells by a carbohydrate binding protein. Cell Rep, 36:109647. PMID 34469737.


Fish L, Khoroshkin M, Navickas A, Garcia K, Culbertson B, Hänisch B, Zhang S, Nguyen H, Soto LM, Dermit M, Mardakheh FK, Molina H, Alarcón C, Najafabadi HS, Goodarzi H (2021). A prometastatic splicing program regulated by SNRPA1 interactions with structured RNA elements. Science, 372:eabc7531. PMID 33986153.


Tawil N, Bassawon R, Meehan B, Nehme A, Montermini L, Gayden T, De Jay N, Spinelli C, Chennakrishnaiah S, Choi D, Adnani L, Zeinieh M, Jabado N, Kleinman CL, Witcher M, Riazalhosseini Y, Key NS, Schiff D, Grover SP, Mackman N, Couturier CP, Petrecca K, Suvà ML, Patel A, Tirosh I, Najafabadi HS, Rak J (2021). Glioblastoma cell populations with distinct oncogenic programs release podoplanin as procoagulant extracellular vesicles. Blood Adv, 5:1682-1694. PMID 33720339.

– – – – – – 2020 – – – – – –


Farouni R *, Djambazian H, Ferri LE, Ragoussis J,  Najafabadi HS * (2020). Model-based analysis of sample index hopping reveals its widespread artifacts in multiplexed single-cell RNA-sequencing. Nat Commun 11:2704. PMID 32483174.

Supplementary data and code: Visit the web supplement.
Software: Download the source code.


Alkallas R †, Lajoie M †, Moldoveanu D, Hoang K, Lefrançois P, Lingrand M, Ahanfeshar-Adams M, Watters K, Spatz A, Zippin JH, Najafabadi HS, Watson IR (2020). Multi-omic analysis reveals significantly mutated genes and DDX3X as a sex-specific tumor suppressor in cutaneous melanoma. Nat Cancer 1:635-652.


Lazure F, Blackburn DM, Corchado AH, Sahinyan K, Karam N, Sharanek A, Nguyen D, Lepper C, Najafabadi HS, Perkins TJ, Jahani-Asl A, Soleimani VD (2020). Myf6/MRF4 is a myogenic niche regulator required for the maintenance of the muscle stem cell pool. EMBO Rep 21:e49499. PMID 33047485.


Couturier CP, Ayyadhury S, Le PU, Nadaf J, Monlong J, Riva G, Allache R, Baig S, Yan X, Bourgey M, Lee C, Wang YC, Yong VW, Guiot M, Najafabadi HS, Misic B, Antel J, Bourque G, Ragoussis J, Petrecca K (2020). Single-cell RNA-seq reveals that glioblastoma recapitulates a normal neurodevelopmental hierarchy. Nat Commun 11:3406. PMID 32641768.

– – – – – – 2019 – – – – – –


Blackburn DM, Lazure F, Corchado AH, Perkins TJ, Najafabadi HS, Soleimani VD (2019). High resolution genome wide expression analysis of single myofibers using SMART-Seq. J Biol Chem 294:20097-20108. PMID 31753917.


Fish L, Navickas A, Culbertson B, Xu Y, Nguyen HCB, Zhang S, Hochman M, Okimoto R, Dill BD, Molina H, Najafabadi HS, Alarcón C, Ruggero D, Goodarzi H (2019). Nuclear TARBP2 Drives Oncogenic Dysregulation of RNA Splicing and Decay. Mol Cell 75:967-981. PMID 31300274.


Buckley MA, Woods NT, Tyrer JP, Mendoza-Fandiño G, Lawrenson K, Hazelett DJ, Najafabadi HS, Gjyshi A, Carvalho RS, Lyra PC, Coetzee SG, Shen HC, Yang AW, Earp MA, Yoder S, Risch H, Chenevix-Trench G, Ramus SJ, Phelan CM, Coetzee GA, Noushmehr H, Hughes TR, Sellers TA, Goode EL, Pharoah PDP, Gayther SA, Monteiro AN (2019). Functional analysis and fine mapping of the 9p22.2 ovarian cancer susceptibility locus. Cancer Res 79:467-481. PMID 30487138.


Feulner L, Najafabadi HS, Tanguay S, Rak J, Riazalhosseini Y (2019). Age-related variations in gene expression patterns of renal cell carcinoma. Urol Oncol 37:166-175. PMID 30478010.

– – – – – – 2018 – – – – – –


Dogan B,  Najafabadi HS * (2018). Computational methods for analysis of the DNA-binding preferences of Cys2His2 zinc-finger proteins. In: Liu J (eds) Zinc Finger Proteins. Methods Mol Biol 1867:15-28. Humana Press, New York, NY. PMID 30155812.


Perron G †, Jandaghi P †, Solanki S, Safisamghabadi M, Storoz C, Karimzadeh M, Papadakis AI, Arseneault M, Scelo G, Banks RE, Tost J, Lathrop M, Tanguay S, Brazma A, Huang S, Brimo F, Najafabadi HS *, Riazalhosseini Y * (2018). A general framework for interrogation of mRNA stability programs identifies RNA-binding proteins that govern cancer transcriptomes. Cell Rep 23:1639-1650. PMID 29742422.

Supplementary data: Visit the web supplement.


Karimzadeh M, Jandaghi P, Papadakis AI, Trainor S, Rung J, Gonzàlez-Porta M, Scelo G, Vasudev NS, Brazma A, Huang S, Banks RE, Lathrop M, Najafabadi HS, Riazalhosseini Y (2018). Aberration hubs in protein interaction networks highlight actionable targets in cancer. Oncotarget 9:25166-25180. PMID  29861861.


– – – – – – 2017 – – – – – –


Alkallas R, Fish L, Goodarzi H, Najafabadi HS * (2017). Inference of RNA decay rate from transcriptional profiling highlights the regulatory programs of Alzheimer's disease. Nat Commun 8:909. PMID 29030541

Supplementary data: Visit the web supplement.
Software: Download the source code.


Najafabadi HS *, Garton M, Weirauch MT, Mnaimneh S, Yang A, Kim PM, Hughes TR * (2017). Non-base-contacting residues enable kaleidoscopic evolution of metazoan C2H2 zinc finger DNA binding. Genome Biol 18:167. PMID 28877740

Related links: See Research Highlight by Alba MM.


– – – – – – 2016 – – – – – –


Schmitges FW †, Radovani E †, Najafabadi HS †, Barazandeh M †, Campitelli LF †, Yin Y, Jolma A, Zhong G, Guo H, Kanagalingam T, Dai WF, Taipale J, Emili A, Greenblatt JF, Hughes TR (2016). Multiparameter functional diversity of human C2H2 zinc finger proteins. Genome Res 26:1742-1752. PMID 27852650

Supplementary data: Visit the web supplement.


Jandaghi P, Najafabadi HS, Bauer AS, Papadakis AI, Fassan M, Hall A, Monast A, von Knebel Doeberitz M, Neoptolemos JP, Costello E, Greenhalf W, Scarpa A, Sipos B, Auld D, Lathrop M, Park M, Büchler MW, Strobel O, Hackert T, Giese NA, Zogopoulos G, Sangwan V, Huang S, Riazalhosseini Y, Hoheisel JD (2016). Expression of DRD2 is Increased in Human Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma and Inhibitors Slow Tumor Growth in Mice. Gastroenterology 151:1218-1231. PMID 27578530


Lambert SA, Albu M, Hughes TR *, Najafabadi HS * (2016). Motif comparison based on similarity of binding affinity profiles. Bioinformatics 32:3504-3506. PMID 27466627

Software: Download the source code, or use the online web server.


Gazestani VH, Nikpour N, Mehta V, Najafabadi HS, Moshiri H, Jardim A, Salavati R (2016). A Protein Complex Map of Trypanosoma brucei. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 10:e0004533. PMID: 26991453


– – – – – – 2015 – – – – – –


Garton M, Najafabadi HS, Schmitges FW, Radovani E, Hughes TR, Kim PM (2015). A structural approach reveals how neighbouring C2H2 zinc fingers influence DNA binding specificity. Nucleic Acids Res 43:9147-9157. PMID: 26384429


Najafabadi HS, Albu M, Hughes TR (2015). Identification of C2H2-ZF binding preferences from ChIP-seq data using RCADE. Bioinformatics 31:2879-81. PMID: 25953800

Software: Download the source code, or use the online web server.


Narasimhan K, Lambert SA, Yang AW, Riddell J, Mnaimneh S, Zheng H, Albu M, Najafabadi HS, Reece-Hoyes JS, Fuxman Bass JI, Walhout AJ, Weirauch MT, Hughes TR (2015). Mapping and analysis of Caenorhabditis elegans transcription factor sequence specificities. eLife doi:10.7554/eLife.06967. PMID: 25905672


Najafabadi HS †, Mnaimneh S †, Schmitges FW †, Garton M, Lam K, Yang A, Albu M, Weirauch MT, Radovani E, Kim PM, Greenblatt J, Frey BJ, Hughes TR (2015). C2H2 zinc finger proteins greatly expand the human regulatory lexicon. Nat Biotechnol 33:555-562. PMID: 25690854

Supplementary data: Visit the web supplement.


Xiong HY, Alipanahi B, Lee LJ, Bretschneider H, Merico D, Yuen RK, Hua Y, Gueroussov S, Najafabadi HS, Hughes TR, Morris Q, Barash Y, Krainer AR, Jojic N, Scherer SW, Blencowe BJ, Frey BJ (2015). The human splicing code reveals new insights into the genetic determinants of disease. Science 347:1254806. PMID: 25525159


Razavi R, Najafabadi HS, Abdullah S, Smukler S, Arntfield M, van der Kooy D (2015). Diabetes enhances the proliferation of adult pancreatic multipotent progenitor cells and biases their differentiation to more β-cell production. Diabetes 64:1311-23. PMID: 25392245


– – – – – – 2014 – – – – – –


Weirauch MT, Yang A, Albu M, Cote A, Montenegro-Montero A, Drewe P, Najafabadi HS, Lambert SA, Mann I, Cook K, Zheng H, Goity A, van Bakel H, Lozano JC, Galli M, Lewsey M, Huang E, Mukherjee T, Chen X, Reece-Hoyes JS, Govindarajan S, Shaulsky G, Walhout AJ, Bouget F, Ratsch G, Larrondo LF, Ecker JR, and Hughes TR (2014). Determination and inference of Eukaryotic transcription factor sequence specificity. Cell 158:1431-1443. PMID: 25215497


– – – – – – 2013 – – – – – –


Najafabadi HS †, Lu Z †, MacPherson C, Mehta V, Adoue V, Pastinen T, Salavati R (2013). Global identification of conserved post-transcriptional regulatory programs in trypanosomatids. Nucleic Acids Res 41:8591-8600. PMID: 23877242


Ray D †, Kazan H †, Cook K †, Weirauch M †, Najafabadi HS †, Li X, Albu M, Zheng H, Yang A, Na H, Guerrousov S, Irimia M, Matzat L, Dale R, Smith S, Yarosh C, Kelly S, Nabet B, Mecenas D, Li W, Laishram R, Qiao M, Lipshitz H, Piano F, Corbett A, Carstens R, Frey B, Anderson R, Lynch K, Penalva L, Lei E, Blencowe B, Fraser A, Morris Q, Hughes T (2013). A compendium of RNA binding motifs for decoding gene regulation. Nature 499:172–177. PMID: 23846655


– – – – – – 2012 – – – – – –


Goodarzi H, Najafabadi HS, Oikonomou P, Greco TM, Fish L, Salavati R, Cristea IM, Tavazoie S (2012). Systematic discovery of structural elements governing stability of mammalian messenger RNAs. Nature 485:264-8. PMID: 22495308


For older publications, click here.

LAB MEMBERS

Hamed S. Najafabadi
Principal Investigator

Hamed Heydari
Postdoctoral Researcher

Aldo Hernández Corchado
Research Assistant

Rached Alkallas
Ph.D. Student
(with Ian R. Watson)

Ariel Madrigal
Ph.D. Student

Octavia Dancu
Ph.D. Student

Ali Saberi
Ph.D. Student
(with Amin Emad)

Larisa Morales Soto
M.Sc. Student

Ali Poursina
M.Sc. Student

Jichen Wang
Undergraduate Research Intern

FORMER LAB MEMBERS

 

Fatima Zohra Smaili
- Position in the CSG lab: Postdoctoral Researcher
- Current position: Data Scientist, Data Sciences Montreal, Canada

Siyu Chen
- Position in the CSG lab: Postdoctoral Researcher
- Current position: Postdoctoral Scholar, UC San Francisco, US

Gabrielle Perron
- Position in the CSG lab: Ph.D. Student
- Current position: Computational Biology Scientist, Exai Bio, US

Wenmin Zhang
- Position in the CSG lab: PhD Student
- Current position: Postdoctoral Researcher, McGill University, Canada

Pubudu Nawarathna
- Position in the CSG lab: M.Sc. Student
- Current position: Bioinformatics Consultant, Canadian Centre for Computational Genomics, Canada

Larry Dong
- Position in the CSG lab: Undergraduate Research Assistant
- Current position: Graduate student, McGill University, Canada

Senthil Kailasam
- Position in the CSG lab: Postdoctoral Researcher
- Current position: Bioinformatics Consultant, Canadian Centre for Computational Genomics, Canada

Mehryar Keshavarz
- Position in the CSG lab: Research Intern
- Current position: Software Developer, Montrium, Canada

Nathalie Neriec
- Position in the CSG lab: Visiting Research Scholar
- Current position: Business Development Specialist, Mitacs, Canada

Jose Enrique Leon Burguete
- Position in the CSG lab: Mitacs Globalink Research Intern
- Current position: Undergraduate student, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico

Berat Dogan
- Position in the CSG lab: Postdoctoral Fellow
- Current position: Assistant Professor, İnönü University, Turkey

Rick Farouni
- Position in the CSG lab: Postdoctoral Fellow
- Current position: Bioinformatics Scientist, ETH Zürich, Switzerland

Krishiv Shah
- Position in the CSG lab: B.Sc. Honours Student (Biology)
- Current position: Senior Consulting Analyst, Huron Consulting Group, Canada

Tianyuan Lu
- Position in the CSG lab: Graduate Research Assistant
- Current position: Senior Bioinformatics Scientist, Five Prime Sciences, Canada

Michael Apostolides
- Position in the CSG lab: M.Sc. Student

Ali Nehme
- Position in the CSG lab: Postdoctoral Fellow
- Current position: Bioinformatics Consultant, Montreal, Canada

Colleen Rollins
- Position in the CSG lab: Undergraduate Research Assistant
- Current position: Graduate student, University of Cambridge, UK


LAB NEWS

February 1, 2023

Our paper on the epigenetic effects of aging in muscle stem cells is out!

In this paper, we explore the transcriptional and epigenetic remodeling of muscle stem cells in aging, and reveal the reversible role of niche environment.

August 20, 2022

Our paper on pan-cancer analysis of mRNA stability is out!

In this paper, we use a new statistical model for inference of mRNA stability from RNA-seq data to examine the role of post-transcriptional programs in development and progression of cancer, identifying microRNAs and RNA-binding proteins that shape the cancer transcriptome.

July 7, 2022

Our paper on the in vivo effect of DNA methylation on transcription factor binding is out!

In this paper, we introduce a new model that enables us to disentangle the effect of sequence variation and chromatin accessibility from the effect of DNA methylation, allowing us to study how CpG methylation affects the binding of hundreds of transcription factors in vivo.

June 2, 2022

Congratulations to Octavia Dancu and Wenmin Zhang on receiving the FRQS doctoral training award!

The FRQS awards will support Octavia's research on identifying genomic determinants of cancer development and progression, and Wenmin's research on identification of the genetic basis of human diseases.

April 1, 2022

Congratulations to Michael Apostolides on being awarded a Canada Graduate Scholarship from CIHR!

This CGS-M award will support Michael's work on the development of novel computational tools for transcript quantification.

April 30, 2021

Congratulations to Ariel Madrigal and Zohreh Mehrjoo on receiving the FRQS doctoral training award!

The FRQS awards will support Zohreh and Ariel's research on the cellular heterogeneity of kidney cancer.

August 21, 2020

Congratulations to Ariel Madrigal and Zohreh Mehrjoo on receiving the Faculty of Medicine studentship award!

The awards that Zohreh and Ariel received will support their research on the cellular heterogeneity of cancer.

June 9, 2020

Our paper on estimation and remediation of sample index hopping is out!

In this paper, we show that when multiple droplet-based scRNA-seq samples are multiplexed on the same sequencing lane, incorrect sample assignment of reads can greatly compromise downstream analysis of data by creating a substantial number of "phantom molecules". We present a method to identify and remove such index hopping artifacts.

July 23, 2019

Congratulations to Ali Nehme on receiving a Peter Quinlan Postdoctoral Fellowship from Faculty of Medicine!

This internal fellowship will support Ali's research on examining the role of RNA-binding proteins in regulating microRNAs.

April 30, 2019

Congratulations to Rached Alkallas and Gabrielle Perron on receiving the FRQS doctoral award!

Gabrielle and Rached received their FRQS doctoral awards for their research on gene regulatory programs of cancer.

April 16, 2019

Congratulations to Gabrielle Perron on receiving the Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship!

This prestigous CIHR doctoral award supports Gabrielle's research on modeling the regulatory networks that govern mRNA stability and their implication in cancer.

February 4, 2019

Congratulations to Gabrielle Perron on receiving the Human Genetics Excellence Award!

Gabrielle is among the six PhD candidates that received the Excellence Award from the Department of Human Genetics.

July 11, 2018

Congratulations to Rached Alkallas on receiving the Canderel Graduate Studentship!

This award supports Rached's research on integrative analysis of gene expression patterns in cutaneous melanoma.

May 23, 2018

Congratulations to Rached Alkallas on receiving the best poster award at the Human Genetics Research Day!

For the second year in a row, Rached's presentation was selected for the best M.Sc. poster award at the Human Genetics Research Day.

May 8, 2018

Our paper on modeling the mRNA stability programs of clear cell renal cell carcinoma is now published in Cell Reports!

In this paper, we show that RNA-binding proteins play a cruicial role in shaping the transcriptome of renal cell carcinoma by modulating the stability of mRNAs, and identify key RNA-binding proteins that affect pathways such as cell cycle and hypoxia signaling.

February 15, 2018

The CSG lab joins the research groups recognized by the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship!

Read more about our 2018 Sloan Fellowship here.

January 23, 2018

The CSG lab has been awarded a CIHR Project Grant to map the cellular mechanisms that can be exploited to modulate miRNAs!

We will analyze thousands of genomics datasets to uncover the genetic and chemical perturbations that can modulate microRNAs, and will elucidate the significance of the associated cellular mechanisms in development of cancer.

October 13, 2017

Our paper on the inference of mRNA stability from RNA-seq data is now published in Nature Communications!

In this paper, we introduce a new method for inferring differential mRNA stability based on intronic and exonic reads in RNA-seq data, and use it to investigate the post-transcriptional regulatory programs of human brain and Alzheimer's disease.

May 18, 2017

Congratulations to Rached Alkallas on receiving the best poster award at the Human Genetics Research Day!

Rached's presentation on our new method for estimating mRNA stability from RNA-seq data was selected for the best M.Sc. poster award at the Human Genetics Research Day.

May 15, 2017

Congratulations to Gabrielle Perron on receiving the FRQS training award!

Gabrielle has been awarded a two-year M.Sc. FRQS training scholarship for her work on "modeling the role of RNA-binding proteins in regulation of the stability of messenger RNAs".

April 4, 2017

Congratulations to Colleen Rollins on receiving the Gates Cambridge Scholarship!

Colleen has received the prestigous Gates Cambridge Scholarship, and will join the University of Cambridge in September to pursue a Ph.D. degree in psychiatry.

November 14, 2016

Congratulations to Dr. Berat Dogan on receiving the TUBITAK Postdoctoral Fellowship!

Berat has received the prestiguous TUBITAK Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey, and will join us in in 2017 to work on predictive models of DNA binding by Cys2His2 zinc finger proteins.

May 22, 2016

Congratulations to Pubudu Nawarathna on receiving the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Scholarship!

Pubudu will join us in September as a graduate student of Human Genetics.

AVAILABLE POSITIONS

GRADUATE STUDENT

We are looking for motivated graduate students at the M.Sc. or Ph.D. level. Interested applicants should send their CV, a statement of research interests, a copy of their academic transcripts, and the contact information of at least two references to hamed.najafabadi@mcgill.ca.

POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW

We are recruiting postdoctoral fellows with expertise in developing and applying innovative computational methods for solving problems related to functional genomics and epigenomics. Interested applicants should send a cover letter, CV, and the contact information of at least three references to hamed.najafabadi@mcgill.ca.

ADDRESS

McGill Genome Centre
740 Dr. Penfield Avenue, Room 7202
Montréal, Québec, H3A 0G1, Canada


CONTACT


Hamed S. Najafabadi, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Department of Human Genetics, McGill University

Office: (514) 398-5308

Email: hamed.najafabadi@mcgill.ca

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