The BLUEPRINT consortium consists of 41 partners representing 43 academic groups and 9 companies. The Principal Investigators leading the different teams are listed below. Information about the partner organisations and the local researchers involved can be found via the links of the Principal Investigators.
Principal investigators
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Dr. David Adamsprincipal investigator Tel.: +44 122 349 68 62
Personal website |
| David Adams (PhD) is a group leader at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. His research interests are the identification of cancer genes using experimental organisms, particularly mouse. He is head of the mouse genomes project. | |
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Prof. Lucia Altucciprincipal investigator Tel.: +39 081 566 75 69
Personal website |
| Lucia Altucci (MD, PhD) is Associate Professor at the Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and General Pathology. Her line of research is pre-clinically oriented and is based both on anticancer epigenetic drug development and on the characterization of the mechanisms of tumorigenesis and leukemogenesis. For BLUEPRINT, Lucia is leader of WP14. | |
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Dr. Ido Amitprincipal investigator
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| Ido Amit is leader of a research team at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. His team studies the genomic code enabling immune cells to differentiate to specific subtypes and devise a specific response to invading pathogens. | |
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Prof. Stylianos E. Antonarakisprincipal investigator Tel.: +41 223 795 707
Personal website |
| Stylianos Antonarakis is Professor and Chairman of Genetic Medicine. His accomplishments include the molecular bases of monogenic and complex genetic disorders. Current projects are functional genome analysis, genotype/phenotype variation, T21 pathogenesis and polygenic phenotypes. | |
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Prof. Stephan Beckprincipal investigator Tel.: +44 207 679 09 64
Personal website |
| Stephan Beck (PhD, FMedSci) is Professor of Medical Genomics at the UCL Cancer Institute. He played a leading role in the sequencing of the human, mouse and zebrafish genomes and his lab has pioneered array- and sequencing-based DNA methylation reference maps and was among the first to conduct epigenome-wide disease association studies. For BLUEPRINT, he is leader of RA2. | |
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Prof. Adrian Birdprincipal investigator Tel.: +44 131 650 56 68
Personal website |
| Adrian Bird is Buchanan Professor of Genetics at Edinburgh University. He has worked on DNA methylation for 35 years. His laboratory has performed genome-wide ChIP-seq and MAP-seq analysis of mouse and human tissues in collaboration with the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. | |
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Christoph Bockprincipal investigator Tel.: +43-1/40160-70 070
Personal website |
| Christoph Bock is Principal Investigator at the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine. He is also still associated with the Max Planck Institute for Bioinformatics. His research interests are mapping epigenetic regulation in blood and immune cells, developing methods for analyzing DNA methylation data and utilizing biomarkers for personalized cancer therapy. For BLUEPRINT he is leader of WP9. | |
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Prof. Bernhard Boehmprincipal investigator Tel.: +49 731 500 445 04 Tel.2: +49 731 500 447 12
Personal website |
| Bernhard Boehm (MD) is Head of the Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes. He is an internationally renowned expert in clinical and experimental diabetes immunology. He studies the role of genetic factors in disease manifestation, in animal models as well as in humans on the basis of population-based approaches. | |
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Dr. ELÍAS CAMPOprincipal investigator Tel.: +34 932 275 450
Personal website |
| Elías Campo (MD, PhD) is Clinical Director of the Center for Biomedical Diagnosis at HCPB and Scientific Director of the Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia Project within the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC), one of the Editors of the current WHO Classification of the hematological neoplasms. His research is focused on malignant lymphomas. | |
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Philippe Cronetprincipal investigator
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Prof. Manolis Dermitzakisprincipal investigator Tel.: + 41 22 37 95 483
Personal website |
| Emmanouil Dermitzakis is Professor of Genetics in the Department of Genetic Medicine and Development. His current research focuses on the genetic basis of regulatory variation and gene expression variation, non-coding DNA evolution, and the population genetics of human pathogens such as Plasmodium falciparum. | |
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Gerard Drewesprincipal investigator
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| Gerard Drewes is leader of Work Package 15 and Research Area 4. | |
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Prof. Tariq Enverprincipal investigator Tel.: +44 207 679 65 00
Personal website |
| Tariq Enver (PhD) is Professor of Stem Cell Biology UCL. He is internationally recognised for his work on normal and leukaemic haematopoiesis. | |
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Dr. Manel Estellerprincipal investigator Tel.: +34 932 607 140 Tel.2: +34 932 607 253
Personal website |
| Manel Esteller (MD, PhD) is a world renowned leader in the field of epigenetics and epigenomics. He has developed multiple approaches to detect changes in the epigenome of healthy individuals and different diseases, both in humans and animal models. | |
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Prof. Xavier Estivillprincipal investigator Tel.: +34 933 160 01 38
Personal website |
| Xavier Estivill is coordinator of the Genes and Disease program and Senior Group Leader of Genetic Causes of Disease laboratory. His group is studying the contribution of non-coding RNAs and structural variations (including copy number variants, CNV) in the susceptibility to complex disorders. | |
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Prof. Anne Ferguson-Smithprincipal investigator Tel.: +44 012 233 338 34
Personal website |
| Anne Ferguson-Smith (PhD) studied mammalian functional genomics throughout her scientific career and is an internationally renowned expert in developmental epigenetics and parental-origin effects. For BLUEPRINT, she is leader of RA5 and WP11. | |
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Dr. Jude Fitzgibbonprincipal investigator Tel.: +44 20 7882 6005
Personal website |
| Jude Fitzgibbon (PhD) is a Reader in Molecular Hematology and group leader in the Centre for Hemato-Oncology at Barts and the London School of Medicine. He is a recognized expert in the study of (epi)genetics and biomarkers in follicular lymphoma. His group pursues a patient-orientated research strategy to improve the prognosis of hematological malignancy. | |
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Dr. Paul Flicekprincipal investigator Tel.: +44 122 349 25 81 Tel.2: +44 122 349 25 28
Personal website |
| Paul Flicek leads the Vertebrate Genomics Team at European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL’s Hinxton Outstation). His responsibilities include leadership of the Ensembl project and EBI’s human variation group. He is currently co-chair of the data flow group of the 1000 Genomes project. For BLUEPRINT, he is leader of WP6. | |
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Eileen Furlongprincipal investigator
Personal website |
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Dr. Thomas Grafprincipal investigator Tel.: +34 933 160 127
Personal website |
| Thomas Graf is the coordinator of the CRG’s Differentiation and Cancer program. His group is interested in hematopoietic differentiation and stem cell biology, and has developed an efficient B cell to macrophage transdifferentiation system that is unique in its efficiency and ideally suited for epigenetic studies and screens for molecules that interfere or activate the process. | |
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Prof. Frank Grosveldprincipal investigator Tel.: +31 107 043 593 Tel.2: +31 107 043 169
Personal website |
| Frank Grosveld is Head of the Department of Cell Biology and the Biomics Center (Genomics, Proteomic, Bio-informatics). He is molecular biologist specialised in the regulation of gene transcription and epigenetics in the haematopoietic system. | |
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Mr. Roderic Guigóprincipal investigator Tel.: +34 933 160 01 68
Personal website |
| Roderic Guigó is Coordinator of the Bioinformatics and Genomics Program at CRG. His research focuses on computational methods for the analysis and the characterization of the RNA content of the cell. His group has developed software for computational gene prediction and for the analysis of RNAseq experiments. | |
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Dr. Ivo Gutprincipal investigator Tel.: +34 933 402 05 77
Personal website |
| Ivo Gut (PhD) is Director of the CNAG and Coordinator of the EU FP7-funded Integrated Project READNA. Fields of expertise include human common and rare disease medical genetics studies and technology development in Genomics and Epigenomics. For BLUEPRINT he is leader of WP2. | |
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Prof. Kristian Helinprincipal investigator Tel.: +45 353 256 68 Tel.2: +45 353 256 66
Personal website |
| Kristian Helin is founding director of BRIC and has contributed with several seminal papers in the area of epigenetics; the role of epigenetic enzymes in stem cell self-renewal and differentiation and their contribution to cancer. He is also director of the Centre for Epigenetics and a co-founder of the biotech company EpiTherapeutics. | |
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Prof. Ralf Küppersprincipal investigator Tel.: +49 201 723 33 84 Tel.2: +49 201 723 33 85
Personal website |
| Ralf Küppers (PhD) is professor and Head of the group 'Molecular Genetics' at the Institute of Cell Biology. He is an internationally renowned expert in the study of lymphoma pathogenesis and the immune-biology of mature human B cells. He established methods to perform gene expression profiling from low numbers of micro-dissected or flow-sorted cells. | |
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Prof. Hans Lehrachprincipal investigator Tel.: +49 308 413 12 20
Personal website |
| Hans Lehrach is director at the MPIMG and the Head of the Department of Vertebrate Genomics. He is an internationally renowned expert in the field of –omic technologies as well as systems biology techniques. | |
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Prof. Thomas Lengauerprincipal investigator Tel.: +49 681 932 530 00
Personal website |
| Thomas Lengauer is head of the Department of Computational Biology which has been active in computational epigenetics since 2001. His main focus is on the DAC contribution. | |
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Prof. Åke Lernmarkprincipal investigator Tel.: +46 403 919 01
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| Åke Lernmark is the Head of the Diabetes & Celiac Disease Unit. He is an internationally renowned expert in the study of the etiology and pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes and celiac disease. | |
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Prof. David Leslieprincipal investigator Tel.: +44 207 888 23 58
Personal website |
| David Leslie is Professor of Diabetes and Autoimmunity in the Centre of Diabetes. He is interested in epigenome-wide association study (EWAS) for Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM) and the identification and validation of disease-associated MVPs in T1DM. For BLUEPRINT he is leader of WP8. | |
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Prof. Markus Loefflerprincipal investigator Tel.: +49 341 971 61 00 Tel.2: +49 341 971 61 03
Personal website |
| Markus Loeffler is full professor and head of the Department of Medical Informatics, Statistics and Epidemiology. He has a longstanding record in the Bioinformatics and Computational Biology and contributed significantly to Cancer Research. | |
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Prof. Elizabeth Macintyreprincipal investigator Tel.: +33 144 494 947 Tel.2: +33 144 494 931
Personal website |
| Elizabeth Macintyre (MD, PhD) is the Head of the Biological Hematology Department and of the “normal and pathological lymphoid differentiation” research team from CNRS UMR8147. She is an internationally renowned expert in the study of the cellular and molecular characterization of T-Cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia/lymphoma. | |
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Prof. Antonello Maiprincipal investigator Tel.: +39 338 852 46 07 Tel.2: +39 649 913 392
Personal website |
| Antonello Mai (PhD) is full professor at the Drug Chemistry and Technologies Department. Fields of expertise include Organic Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, Organic Synthesis and Drug Design. From 1999, he is involved in design and synthesis of small molecule modulators of epigenetic targets. | |
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Dr. Joost Martensprincipal investigator Tel.: +31 243 610 525
Personal website |
| Joost Martens (PhD) is assistant professor at the Dept. of Molecular Biology. Joost has pioneered ChIP-seq, RNA-seq, MethylCap-seq in the analysis of molecular mechanisms of transformation/differentiation by oncofusion proteins in AML. For BLUEPRINT, he is leader of WP5. | |
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Christoph Mertenprincipal investigator
Personal website |
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Prof. Saverio Minucciprincipal investigator Tel.: +39/0257489832
Personal website |
| Dr Saverio Minucci (MD) is a Division Director at the European Institute of Oncology, and Associate Professor of Pathology at the University of Milan. His current of research activity is the deregulation of chromatin structure/function in cancer. | |
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Prof. willem ouwehandprincipal investigator Tel.: +44 122 358 80 37
Personal website |
| Willem H Ouwehand (MD, PhD) is Principal Investigator of a research team with 30 scientists. He is an internationally renowned expert in megakaryocyte/platelet biology and genomics. Fields of expertise include Cell Biology, Platelet Biochemistry and (Epi)Genomics. He is leader of WP3 for BLUEPRINT. | |
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Prof. Pier Giuseppe Pelicciprincipal investigator Tel.: +39 257 489 868
Personal website |
| Prof Pier Giuseppe Pelicci (MD, PhD) is Co-Scientific Director of the European Institute of Oncology (IEO) and Chairman of the Department of Experimental Oncology at IEO. He is Full Professor of Pathology at the University of Milan. He is internationally renowned for his significant contribution to the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of cell growth and differentiation underlying the development of cancer. | |
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Bo Porseprincipal investigator Tel.: Tel. +45 35 32 56 20
Personal website |
| Bo Porse is a group leader at BRIC and head of Copenhagen University Hospital’s Section for Gene Therapy Research. His research area deals with the biology of normal hematopoietic stem cells and malignant leukemic stem cells. | |
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Dr. Vardhman Rakyanprincipal investigator Tel.: +44 20 7882 8140
Personal website |
| Vardhman Rakyan is a Professor of Epigenetics. He has over 13 years experience in the fields of epigenetics and genomics with a strong focus on inter-individual phenotypic variation in mammals and technology development in epigenomics. | |
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Prof. Wolf Reikprincipal investigator Tel.: +44 1223 496 000
Personal website |
| Wolf Reik (MD) is the Head of the Epigenetics & Chromatin Programme. He is an international leader in epigenetic mechanisms of mammalian development and is using sequencing approaches to understand reprogramming. For BLUEPRINT he is leader of WP12. | |
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Dr. Dirk Schübelerprincipal investigator Tel.: +41 616 978 269 Tel.2: +41 616 978 270
Personal website |
| Dirk Schübeler (PhD) is a senior groupleader at the FMI and internationally recognized for his work on gene regulation in particular related to functional epigenomics. For BLUEPRINT he is leader of RA3. | |
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Dr. Martin Seifertprincipal investigator Tel.: +49 895 997 66
Personal website |
| Martin Seifert (PhD) is a biologist and Managing Director of Genomatix. His expertise is in chromatin IP, transcriptome analysis and nuclear receptors. His research focus within Genomatix is the development of efficient data analysis instruments for microarray and next generation sequencing data. | |
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Prof. Reiner Siebertprincipal investigator Tel.: +49 431 597 17 79
Personal website |
| Reiner Siebert (MD, PhD) is a Human Geneticist, chair and full Professor of Human Genetics and Director of the Institute of Human Genetics. Moreover, he is Deputy Scientific Director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center in Kiel and Coordinator of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) on Malignant Lymphoma. For BLUEPRINT he is leader of WP4. | |
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Dr. Nicole Soranzoprincipal investigator Tel.: +44 122 349 23 64
Personal website |
| Nicole Soranzo (PhD) is a group leader at WTSI and a Professor of Human Genetics at the University of Cambridge. Her team works to expand discovery of novel genetic loci for intermediate cardio-metabolic endpoints through associations of common and rare DNA variation with bio-chemical and physiologic intermediate phenotypes. Her group has developed world-leading expertise in the meta-analysis of Genome-Wide studies. For BLUEPRINT she is leader of WP10. | |
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Dr. Salvatore Spicugliaprincipal investigator Tel.: +33 4 91 82 87 39 Tel.2: +33 6 99 02 48 41
Personal website |
| Salvatore Spicuglia (PhD) is staff scientist. He is an expert in the field of epigenetic regulation during cell differentiation. He has pioneered MeDIP, ChIP-seq, FAIRE-seq, MNase-seq in order to study epigenetic dynamics during normal T cell differentiation and oncogenesis. | |
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Prof. Michael Strattonprincipal investigator Tel.: +44 122 349 47 57 Tel.2: +44 122 349 47 39
Personal website |
| Michael Stratton (MD, PhD) is Director of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. He was leader of the group that mapped and identified the high risk breast cancer susceptibility gene, BRCA2. His research interests are in the genetics of cancer. | |
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Prof. Hendrik Stunnenbergprincipal investigator Tel.: +31 24 3610524 Tel.2: +31 243 610 523
Personal website |
| Henk Stunnenberg (PhD) is the Head of the Department of Molecular Biology. He is an internationally renowned expert in the study of mechanism of gene expression (transcription machinery, chromatin). Fields of expertise include Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Genomics and Epigenomics. He is overal coordinator of BLUEPRINT, leader of RA1a and WPs 17-19. | |
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Dr. Amos Tanayprincipal investigator Tel.: +97 289 343 579
Personal website |
| Amos Tanay is a senior scientist and principal investigator at the Department of Computer Science and Applied mathematics. is a recognized expert on algorithmic development and modeling of biological systems and genomic phenomenon. | |
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Dr. David Torrentsprincipal investigator Tel.: +34 934 134 074
Personal website |
| David Torrents (PhD) is ICREA Research Professor and group leader at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center. He actively participated and co-coordinated sections of the primary analysis of several eukaryotic genomes as part of the international sequencing consortia providing primary digestion and annotation of functional elements in sequenced genomes. | |
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Prof. Alfonso Valenciaprincipal investigator Tel.: +34 917 328 000
Personal website |
| Alfonso Valencia is a biologist with training in population genetics and biophysics. He is Director of the Spanish National Bioinformatics Institute (INB), a platform of the Spanish Health Institute. Director of the Structural Biology and Biocomputing Programme of the CNIO. For BLUEPRINT he is leader of RA1b and WP7. | |
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Prof. Edo Vellengaprincipal investigator Tel.: +31 503 612 933 Tel.2: +31 503 612 354
Personal website |
| Edo Vellenga is full professor at the department of Hematology. He is the principal investigator of the HOVON APL study in cooperation with the Spanish Pethema group. His research focuses on preclinical studies in AML and oncogene activation in normal hematopoietic cells. | |
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Prof. Martin Vingronprincipal investigator Tel.: +49 308 413 11 50 Tel.2: +49 308 413 11 51
Personal website |
| Martin Vingron is a Director at the Max-Planck-Institut für molekulare Genetik where he heads the Computational Molecular Biology Department. His major fields of interest are functional genomics, gene regulation and epigenetics. | |
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Prof. Joern Walterprincipal investigator Tel.: +49 681 302 43 67
Personal website |
| Jörn Walter (PhD) is professor and head of the Department of Epigenetics/Genetics. He has a strong record on DNA-methylation biology and mapping, marker development and epigenomic data interpretation. For BLUEPRINT he is leader of WP16 (training, communication & networking). | |
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Stephanie Weberprincipal investigator Tel.: +49 681 95923394
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| Stephanie is actively involved in communication activities, especially for the IHEC communication working group. | |
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Didier Allaerresearcher
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| Didier Allaer is the founder and current CEO of Diagenode. He has extensive experience in the diagnostic field and he is a specialist in instruments and engineering. Didier has a broad network including scientific and industrial actors in many countries. | |
