CSHL Conference on Systems Biology: Global Regulation of Gene Expression

About This Grant

Cold Spring Harbor Conference Systems Biology: Global Regulation of Gene Expression 2026-2030 ABSTRACT How cells control the expression of their genomes is a fundamental problem in biology. How the coordinate regulation of gene expression is affected by changes in the cellular and organismal environment is another fundamental question. Ever since the discovery that genes are encoded in the sequence of nucleotides that comprise the double strand DNA helix, there have been continuous investigations into these problems. The nuclear machineries that make transcripts as well as the many types of DNA sequences that serve to control gene expression have been discovered. Despite these efforts, many fundamental issues associated with the global regulation of gene expression remain unresolved. For example, the transcriptional regulatory sequences and the regulatory proteins for most genes in the human genome are still poorly defined. We cannot yet predict a human gene's expression pattern with high accuracy from the sequence of its surrounding regulatory DNA or the pattern of nearby epigenetic marks, or how these are affected by environmental change. Nor, in the majority of cases, can we make rational alterations to the DNA that result in specific, predefined changes in expression. It is clear that effective collaborations between experimental and computational biologists will be required to come to grips with the complex problems of gene regulation. Thus we propose to host meetings that foster the free cross-disciplinary exchange of existing ideas and expertise. It is hoped that these meetings will provide a mechanism for the establishment of new collaborations, and a forum for discussing new experimental, computational and AI-based approaches. This proposal seeks National Institutes of Health (NHGRI) funding to support the active participation of young scientists (graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and new faculty) in a continuing series of scientific meetings on systems biology, which have previously been held at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) and in Puerto Rico. The 2026-2030 conferences will be managed by CSHL on the CSHL campus. These meetings are intended to foster cross- disciplinary exchange of ideas and expertise between experimentalists and computational biologists interested in the organization and control of complex transcription networks in eukaryotes. Key themes of the 2026 meeting include Mechanistic Genomics, which focuses on experimental and computational approaches to uncover causal relationships in gene regulation; Post- transcriptional Regulation, exploring RNA-based mechanisms that fine-tune gene expression; 3D Nuclear Organization, examining how chromatin architecture influences transcriptional dynamics; Single-cell Genomics, which has revolutionized our understanding of cellular heterogeneity and lineage dynamics. Additionally, advances in High Content Screening will be discussed, emphasizing large-scale perturbation and phenotypic profiling approaches. Lastly, the role of AI Embeddings and Computational Modeling in uncovering hidden biological patterns and improving regulatory sequence predictions will be explored. Oral presentations will be given by a group of distinguished invited speakers as well as speakers selected from submitted abstracts. Selected speakers will include graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty aiming for maximal inclusion of young investigators. Of special importance are the two poster sessions, where many participants can present their work in an atmosphere conducive to informal discussion. The meeting will be of moderate size and we expect about 250-300 people to attend, the vast majority of whom will be presenting a poster or talk. This proposal seeks funding to support the participation of early career investigators in this important meeting.