NYU will inaugurate its Center for Genomics and Systems Biology on Wednesday, June 1, 4:30 p.m. at its new location, 12 Waverly Place (between Mercer and Greene Streets) with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a lecture by Eric Green, director of National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health.

NYU to Open Center for Genomics and Systems Biology with Ribbon Cutting, Lecture—June 1
NYU will inaugurate its Center for Genomics and Systems Biology on Wednesday, June 1, 4:30 p.m. at its new location, 12 Waverly Place (between Mercer and Greene Streets) with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a lecture by Eric Green, director of National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health. ©NYU Photo Bureau: Asselin

New York University will inaugurate its Center for Genomics and Systems Biology on Wednesday, June 1, 4:30 p.m. at its new location, 12 Waverly Place (between Mercer and Greene Streets) with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a lecture by Eric Green, director of National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health.

The new building for the NYU Center is a cutting-edge, 62,000-square-foot “hub of science” located at the heart of the Washington Square campus. Keeping its original Greenwich Village façade, this advanced science building houses open and interconnected state-of-the-art “loft laboratories” for teams of more than 200 researchers, including professors, postdoctoral scientists, and students.

The fundamental research programs being carried out in the Center embrace the study of genomics and systems biology as the next frontier in the biological sciences. Working with life forms from all the major branches of the tree of life, scientists in the Center address how genomes encode regulatory genetic networks, how they respond to changes in the environment or during development, and how they evolve. These principles are being applied to global questions in human health, food sustainability, bio-energy, and the environment.

Highlights of its recent work include the discovery by Professors Fabio Piano and Kristin Gunsalus of a genome-wide network controlling embryo development in a microscopic worm. This landmark study has led to translational work in the in vitro fertilization clinic at NYU School of Medicine.

In another ground-breaking study, Professor Richard Bonneau, a computational biologist, used machine learning approaches to accurately model and predict how genes influence each other via extremely large networks of interaction and how these networks respond to stimuli, adapting over time to new environments and cell states. Bonneau’s computer programs were able predict genome-wide responses in a single living bacterial cell. For this work, he was named one of 20 “visionary” scientists under the age of 40 by Discover magazine.

As part of the opening ceremony, there will be a special lecture on genomic medicine by Dr. Eric Green, director of National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health. Green became the third director of the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) in 2009. Among other honors, he has the received the Lucille P. Markey Scholar Award in Biomedical Science and been inducted into the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the American Association of Physicians. He is a Founding Editor of the journal Genome Research and Co-Editor of Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics.

Reporters interested in attending the event must RSVP to James Devitt, Office of Public Affairs, at 212.998.6808 or james.devitt@nyu.edu.  For more information on NYU’s Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, click here.

Press Contact

James Devitt
James Devitt
(212) 998-6808