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Dear John,
As the academic year wraps up, we’re very pleased to share that Lotte Razenberg will be joining the Utrecht Bioinformatics Center as our new coordinator, starting mid-July. She will take over from our current coordinator, Qingyi Feng. We warmly thank Qingyi for her dedication and outstanding work in keeping UBC running smoothly.
The past few months have seen a lot of UBC-related activity, including the second edition of the Bioinformatics Industry Day. With events like these, we hope to bring together the bioinformatics community across Utrecht Science Park and beyond. We also launched new initiatives like LifeSci-FM, a cutting-edge infrastructure focused on life science foundation models.
Looking ahead, we’re happy to announce that this year’s UBC Annual Symposium will take place on Friday, November 7th. Preparations are in full swing, and we’ll keep you informed as the programme take shape. We wish you all a wonderful summer!
Warm regards,
Ronnie de Jonge
On behalf of the UBC Daily Board |
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Bas van Steensel appointed special Professor of Chromosome Biology
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| Utrecht University has appointed Bas van Steensel as Special Professor of Chromosome Biology. Van Steensel studies how DNA is folded within cells and how this influences gene activity and disease. He combines molecular biology with AI to decode the "dark" regions of our DNA. Alongside his research, he will also teach and mentor Master’s students in Utrecht. Bas will also continue working in his current position at the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI). |
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Mushrooms get sick too, but how?
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| PhD candidate Erik Beijen has uncovered new insights into how mushrooms defend themselves against pathogens, using gene expression analysis and CRISPR-Cas9 techniques. His research, focused on Schizophyllum commune, marks a step toward healthier crops and fewer losses for growers. This work was supervised by UBC Principal Investigator Robin Ohm. |
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Bioinformatics Industry Day 2025
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| We're looking back on a very succesful second edition of Bioinformatics Industry Day. This edition brought together over 140 students, researchers, and professionals for a day of inspiring talks, company pitches, and one-on-one networking. This allowed students to connect directly with Utrecht-based organizations in biotechnology and data science. Consideirng the succes of this event, we aim to organize a third edition of the Bioinformatics Industry Day in 2026. |
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Inaugural lecture Jeroen de Ridder
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| Jeroen de Ridder recently gave his inaugural lecture as Professor of Bioinformatics in Molecular Medicine at UMC Utrecht. His lecture centered around a key question: how can we use AI to better recognize and treat the ‘molecular fingerprints’ of disease? “Stay curious. Keep asking questions. And keep collaborating,” says Jeroen. “Because true innovation happens where disciplines meet.” |
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Auke Damstra appointed Head of ELIXIR-NL
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| Auke Damstra, Technology Director of CropXR, has been appointed co-Head of ELIXIR-NL, the Dutch node of the European life science data infrastructure, hosted by Health-RI. At ELIXIR-NL, Auke will mainly focus on green life sciences. His nomination was supported by Prof. Guido van den Ackerveken, UBC PI and CropXR Scientific Director. Congratulations to Auke! |
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Recent publications by UBC members |
Save the date: UBC Annual Symposium 2025 |
| Mark your calendar! This year's UBC Annual Symposium will take place on 7 November 2025 at the Princess Máxima Center. Following last year’s sold-out 10th edition, it promises to be a full day of cutting-edge bioinformatics and many opportunities to meet inspiring peers. We will keep you posted as the programme of the day take shape. Meanwhile, get a glimpse of the atmosphere and talks from 2024 in this review. |
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HotTopics symposium: Microbial Ecology |
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