Dr. Huang Hongling’s research interest lies in the immune signaling underlying the differentiation and function of T cells, a central cell type in adaptive immunity and cancer immunotherapy. He applies systems biology approaches, such as single cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq), CRISPR screening and the integrative network analysis, to reconstruct molecular hubs for T cell fate decision in tumor, infection, and auto-immunity diseases as well as in healthy condition. His work could shed light on understanding fundamental mechanisms of immune regulation and pave the way for better immunotherapy.

Dr. Julian Jude completed his Ph.D. at Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute, developing an arrayed shRNA screening platform. He then moved on to do his postdoc at Prof. Johannes Zuber laboratory at the IMP in Vienna where he developed functional genomics tools. He performed >70 genome-wide shRNA and CRISPR screens probing for drug synergy, synthetic lethality and drug targets. He collaborated closely with Dr. Ulrich Elling at IMBA to develop the VBC score sgRNA design algorithm. Dr. Jude then became a team leader at AelianBiotechnology to build a CROP-Seq screening platform, merging single-cell CRISPR screens with single-cell RNAseq before changing gears to join Twist Bioscience.