Functional Genomics and Neurogenetics

Functional Genomics and Neurogenetics is organized by Neuroscience School of Advanced Studies (NSAS) and will be held from Oct 06 - 13, 2025 at Veneto Institute of Sciences, Letters and Arts c/o Palazzo Loredan, Venice, Veneto, Italy.

Description:
We are in the midst of a revolution in biology that is based on advances in genetic and genomic technology, empowered by advances in computer science. In addition to identifying specific factors that cause human brain disorders, genetics and genomics now provide an extraordinarily powerful tool kit for understanding nervous system function in health and disease. There have been many major recent advances. This includes molecular-systems methods that permit dynamic measurement of gene products in a highly parallel manner, coupled with an underlying systems-level knowledge of the organization of these gene products to provide a more integrative understanding of nervous system function. By permitting us to view specific gene products in the context of all others, we can use these rapidly evolving approaches to discover previously unexplored biology, develop new hypotheses and rank these hypotheses based on quantitative reasoning.

Specific tools for gene identification include whole exome and whole genome sequencing and genetic association studies, single cell and bulk tissue RNA sequencing for measuring virtually all direct forms of gene products, their post-transcriptional regulation, and a plethora of allied methods for investigating epigenetic regulation, as well as a plethora of epigenetic methods, ranging from single cell cut and tag and ATAC-seq to bulk chromatin conformation profiling by Hi-C and related methods. Advances in model organism genetics and in vitro modelling based on stem cell biology provide experimental platforms for neurobiological investigation and hypothesis testing at both low and high throughput. Further, genomic and genetic approaches can be used to vastly amplify the value of these model systems, from transcriptional and epigenetic profiling to providing catalogues of cell types and cell type-specific changes to move towards understanding circuit function. Lastly, a number of high throughput assays, ranging from arrayed and pooled CRISPR screening approaches to multiple parallel reporter assays, permit genome-wide functional screening.

In this Advanced Course, we will introduce these platforms and address some of the major challenges inherent in connecting different levels of analysis, from genes to pathways to cells and circuits, that are required to understand how genetic variation ultimately leads to behavioural and cognitive phenotypes. Examples of specific topics that will be addressed include Nextgen sequencing, genetic association and eQTL analysis, single cell and multi-scale analyses from genomics and transcriptomics, methods for measuring chromatin structure and related epigenetic landscapes, especially focusing on single cell analytic methods, IPSC-derived in vitro systems, and methods for systems-level analysis, such as gene networks and focused applications of machine learning. The Faculty has pioneered research in these areas and will cover several major disease areas, ranging from neuropsychiatric disorders such as autism and schizophrenia to neurodegenerative diseases.