Principal Investigator

Lab Technician

Doctorate students

In this project the student analyzes exome sequencing data of pancreatic tumor samples, and uses correlation networks to compare it with transcriptomic data to search for molecular pathways preferentially affected by somatic or transcriptional changes.

Generation of xenografts from human pancreatic tumors for genetic screening of molecular targets with therapeutic potential

From the establishment of xenografts from human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma tissue, we intend to identify molecular vulnerabilities in the tumor cells through the knockdown (RNAi) of components of the epigenetic machinery, thus exposing potential therapeutic targets.

Implementation of computational analysis to identify novel biomarkers for molecular diagnosis of pancreatic tumors using next generation sequencing data

This project intend to establish a bioinformatics pipeline to facilitate the processing and analysis of gene expression data (RNAseq)  from clinical samples of pancreatic adenocarcinoma, with focus in the identification of long noncoding RNAs. To identify genes and functional modules deregulated in pancreatic tumors, facilitating the prioritization of candidates for functional characterization or biomarkers to assist in the molecular diagnosis of the disease.

Identification of molecular markers for molecular diagnosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma

Development of a relational database to facilitate the mining of information from pancreatic cancer genomic data generated by our laboratory or by public consortia in order to prioritize candidates for functional characterization and evaluation of diagnostic potential.

Master students

Computational approaches for the investigation of long non coding RNAs associated with molecular subtypes in pancreatic cancer

Pattern recognition approaches to classify pancreatic tumors. Molecular subtype identification from gene expression data. Functional inference and annotation of lncRNAs through generation and analysis of gene coexpression networks.

Identification of long non-coding RNAs involved in the cellular architecture of pancreatic tumors

Monolayer cell culture is one of the most utilized methods to study biological functions of tumor cells, however this technique poorly represents cellular architecture of the original tumors. The objective of this study is to establish a tridimensional culture method for pancreatic cancer cell lines, seeking to identify long non-coding RNAs relevant to maintenance of tumor cell organization.

Undergraduate students

Validation of the expression and structure of new transcripts and new splicing isoforms in tumoral lines and xenotumors derived from patients with pancreatic cancer. Thus, this research has objective to reveal potential new biomarkers to aid in the early diagnosis and clinical prognosis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, identifying possible therapeutic targets.

High school students

Alumni