Mapping the development and regeneration of reproductive tissues: Dr Roser Vento Tormo

Seminar with Dr Roser Vento Tormo 

Please note that this is an in-person-only event

Title: Mapping the development and regeneration of reproductive tissues

Abstract: The study of reproductive tissues requires a systems biology approach. Their development starts in utero and does not finish until after puberty, leading to changes in organization and cell composition across the lifespan via paracrine (e.g. folliculogenesis) and endocrine (e.g. menstrual cycle) signals. Our team has generated a comprehensive map of human developing and adult reproductive tissues using a combination of single-cell and spatial transcriptomics, chromatin accessibility assays and fluorescent microscopy. We utilise this map to study the aetiology of reproductive disorders, identify novel therapeutic targets, and guide the development of in vitro models.

Speaker: Roser Vento-Tormo aims to understand how tissue microenvironments influence cellular identity and behaviour in the context of development and immunity. Her team employs single-cell and spatial transcriptomics methods to deconstruct cell signalling in human organs and tissues, and utilises this information to inform the reconstruction of novel in vitro models. During her PhD, Roser studied the interplay between cell signalling and epigenetics in myeloid cell fate decisions. As a postdoctoral fellow in the Teichmann laboratory she developed CellPhoneDB, a computational tool to study cell-cell communication from single-cell transcriptomics data. The Vento-Tormo lab has been funded by many recognised international agencies (H2020, MRC, CZI, Wellcome-LEAP), and she recently won the Early Career Research Award from the Biochemistry Society (2021).

Host: Dr Mahesh Sangrithi