86th ICREA BREAKFAST COLLOQUIUM - Cell differentiation and cancer: role of gene regulation and dietary fatty acids
Speakers: ICREA Research Professors Salvador Aznar Benitah (IRB Barcelona) and Luciano Di Croce (CRG)
When: 9th of April 2019, 09:00h
Where: Hotel Catalonia Plaça Catalunya, Bergara, 11, 08002 Barcelona
Abstracts:
Salvador Aznar Benitah
My laboratory is interested in studying how adult stem cells maintain tissue homeostasis, and why stem cells fail to function properly during ageing and tumorigenesis. In last years, we have been particularly interested in understanding how the timing of stem cell function is coordinated (i.e. biological clocks), how stem cells from distant tissues communicate to coordinate their function at the organismal level, and how their epigenome adapts from steady-state conditions to situations of stress.
I will present our latest data regarding the impact our diet has on the clock of stem cells and surrounding niche cells, and its profound effect on stem cell ageing. I will also discuss our recent finding on metastatic-initiating cells and how their metastatic potential is fully dependent on dietary fatty acids.
Luciano Di Croce
Our lab is interested in understanding how epigenetic modifications and chromatin changes are established and, once in place, how they affect gene expression, cell differentiation and transformation.
Polycomb and MLL/Trithorax complexes are evolutionarily conserved chromatin-modifying factors originally identified as part of an epigenetic cellular memory system that maintains repressed or active gene expression states.
I will discuss how Polycomb and MLL proteins (including novel associated factors) impact on transcription, genome architecture, and their role in stem cell biology and cancer.
The ICREA colloquia are a great way to learn about remote fields of research from our best experts. We usually have two speakers, who offer their opinions on the same subject from very different angles. They are open to all ICREAs and their guests.
85th ICREA Colloquium - Beyond musicology
Speaker: ICREA Research Professor Tess Knighton, from CSIC-IMF, and Patricia Caicedo, director of the Barcelona Festival of Song
When: 26th of February 2019, 18:00h
Where: ICREA, Pg. Lluís Companys 23, 6th floor
Abstract:
Musicology is a relatively young discipline, which gained recognition only towards the end of the nineteenth century and a debate over its focus of scientific inquiry has its roots in its early philological roots based on the study of musical sources and concordances. This thread continues within the weave of present-day musicology, intertwined with other strands of pure analysis of musical text from an aesthetic viewpoint and a more contextualised approach addressing broader social and cultural questions which have vied for pre-eminence since the 1970s. The era of the digital humanities has opened up new directions, from big data analysis to neuro-scientific approaches, the impact of which is beginning to make itself felt in the most recent research. In this presentation, we consider the challenge of going beyond musicology to explore performative and dynamic issues of the quintessentially ephemeral art of music-making in the historical past using the technology of the present in order to open the way for a richer understanding of it as an embodied experience.
The ICREA colloquia are a great way to learn about remote fields of research from our best experts. We usually have two speakers, who offer their opinions on the same subject from very different angles. Open to all ICREAs and their guests.
«2001: A Space Odyssey» from the Standpoint of Present-Day Science
Coinciding with the exhibition “Kubrick”, which is now showing at the CCCB, this year’s programming of Science at Christmas will include analysis of the big questions raised by the classic film 2001: A Space Odyssey from the standpoint of present-day science.
The event, co-organised by Ricard Solé (ICREA Research Professor at UPF) among others, will be held at the CCCB on the 18th of December at 18:30 h. For further information please click here.
84th ICREA Colloquium - Carbon pricing and energy use pathways for staying within 2°C climate change
Speakers: ICREA Research Professors Jeroen van den Bergh and Giorgos Kallis, both from ICTA-UAB
When: 4th of December 2018, 18:00h
Where: ICREA, Pg. Lluís Companys 23, 6th floor
The ICREA colloquia are a great way to learn about remote fields of research from our best experts. We usually have two speakers, who offer their opinions on the same subject from very different angles. Open to all ICREAs and their guests.
Abstract:
Stopping climate change has turned out to be an immense challenge. Although denial of the problem seems to weaken somewhat, a serious hurdle to a solution is that many scientists and politicians are insufficiently focused on ultimate effectiveness of policies. We quantify the magnitude of the decarbonization challenge and discuss general solution strategies and policy instruments. We then look into the carbon emissions involved in a renewable energy transition, assess the effects of recessions on carbon emissions and discuss the trade-offs between economic growth and reducing carbon emissions. We zoom in on carbon pricing, listing classic and heterodox arguments in favor of it, dealing with effectiveness, efficiency, equity, national and international feasibility, and systemic effects. Complementary instruments and the reasons for their use are mentioned as well. On the basis of this, implications for the policy trajectory after the Paris international climate agreement are formulated.
