Science Matters

Overview

PNRI’s Science Matters free, virtual seminars feature discussions with scientists around the globe about exciting research in genetics, genomics, and evolutionary biology with important societal impact.  

Topics include research on the genetics of ethnically diverse populations, diseases afflicting vulnerable or underserved groups, and efforts to expand the diversity (broadly defined) of research subjects or the scientific workforce.

The seminars are free to attend and open to the scientific community and anyone interested in learning more about genetics. These are virtual events (via Zoom) and require advance registration. Each seminar has a unique registration link. Register for our next seminar at the bottom of this page.

Upcoming Science Matters Seminars

11
June 2025
12:00 pm PT
Illuminating the Dynamics of Tandem Repeat Expansions Using Long-Read Sequencing
Paul Valdmanis, PhD
Associate Professor, Medical Genetics at University of Washington
09
July 2025
12:00 pm PT
Seminar Title TBA
Bill Hagopian, MD, PhD
Research Professor of Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine
08
October 2025
12:00 pm PT
Seminar Title TBA
Dan Doherty, MD, PhD
Hindbrain Malformation Research Program, Director and Professor, Center for Integrative Brain Research, UW Pediatrics
19
November 2025
12:00 pm PT
Seminar Title TBA
Isidro Cortés-Ciriano, PhD
Research Group Leader at EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI)
10
December 2025
10:00 am PT
Seminar Title TBA
Shahida Moosa, MBBCh, DCH(SA), MMed (Med Genet), FCMG(SA), PhD
Professor | Head: Medical Genetics – Tygerberg Hospital; Head: Rare Disease Genomics Research Group – Stellenbosch University

Past Seminars

May 14, 2025
Precision Medicine – Tackling the Mysteries of Genetic Diseases
Linda (Shen) Gu, PhD, FACMG
Assistant Professor, School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
March 19, 2025
Rare Disease, Common Disease, Somatic Mutation
Richard Gibbs, PhD
Wofford Cain Chair and Professor at Baylor College of Medicine
January 22, 2025
A Retrotransposon in Cancer: The Marker and The Mutator
Kathleen Burns, MD, PhD
Chair, Dept. of Pathology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School
December 11, 2024
Just a Needle Stick Away: Uncovering Genetic Mysteries of Immunity Through Collaborative Efforts
Cecilia Poli, MD, PhD
Director, Program of Immunogenetics and Translational Immunology, Universidad del Desarrollo
November 20, 2024
Beyond Atlases: Using Multi-omics to Uncover Hidden Mechanisms of Neural Development and Disease
Tim Cherry, PhD
Principal Investigator, Seattle Children’s Research Institute/Assistant Professor, University of Washington’s School of Medicine
October 16, 2024
Advancing Genomic Technologies for Insights into Human Diseases
Chia-Lin Wei, PhD
Professor of Genome Sciences, University of Washington
September 18, 2024
Challenges and Opportunities of Newborn Screening in Latin America
Claudia Gonzaga-Jauregui, PhD
Principal Investigator, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
September 18, 2024
The Road to Genomic Newborn Screening
Nina Gold, MD
Pediatrician and Geneticist, Mass General Brigham Hospital
July 10, 2024
Clinical and Genomic Studies in MECP2 Duplication Syndrome – A Path to Personalized Medicine
Davut Pehlivan, MD
Assistant Professor, Pediatrics and Neurology, Baylor College of Medicine
June 12, 2024
In Search of a More Perfect Clinical Genome: Pearls from the Middle East
Fowzan Alkuraya, MD
Professor of Human Genetics, Alfaisal University/Dept. Chair of Translational Genomics, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center
May 22, 2024
Advancing Diagnostics in Rare Diseases: Multiomics Approaches and Innovations in Sweden
Anna Lindstrand, MD, PhD
Professor, Clinical Genetics/Rare Diseases Research Group Lead, Karolinska Institutet & Head of Clinical Genetics Diagnostic Laboratory, Karolinska University Hospital
April 17, 2024
Applications of Human Brain Organogenesis
Alysson Muotri, PhD
Professor, Depts. of Pediatrics and Cellular & Molecular Medicine, University of California, San Diego
March 20, 2024
You Can’t See the Trees for the Forest: Dissecting the Many Causal Roots Driving Autoimmune Disease Genetic Risk
John Ray, PhD
Principal Investigator, Ray Lab, Center for Systems Immunology, Benaroya Research Institute
February 28, 2024
The Lived Experience of Rare Disease
Jill Hawkins
Founder and President, FAM177A1 Research Fund
February 28, 2024
BCM-GREGoR: Accelerating Molecular Diagnoses for Rare Disease Families
Jennifer Posey, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor/Physician Scientist, Dept. of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine
January 24, 2024
The Genetics of Pediatric Epilepsy Disorders: From Genomics to Targeted Therapies
Ghayda Mirzaa, MD
Principal Investigator, Center for Integrative Brain Research, Seattle Children’s
December 13, 2023
Using Genetics to Study the Evolution of Human Immunity and Engage Students in Science
Eduardo Amorim, PhD
Assistant Professor, California State University, Northridge
November 08, 2023
Streamlining Clinical and Research Genetic Testing With Long-Read Sequencing
Danny Miller, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Hospital
October 20, 2023
Scalable Approaches for Modeling Rare Disease in Organoid Systems
Scott Younger, PhD
Director, Disease Gene Engineering, Genomic Medicine Center, Children’s Mercy Kansas City
September 20, 2023
Why We Have the Diseases We Have
Han Brunner, MD, PhD
Professor, Radboud University Medical Center, the Netherlands
June 14, 2023
Genetics, Ancestry and Health in Latin American Populations
Eduardo Tarazona Santos, PhD
Professor, Department of Genetics, Ecology and Evolution, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil
May 24, 2023
Uncovering the Genomic Basis of Extremely Severe Forms of Schizophrenia
Anthony Zoghbi, MD
Assistant Professor, Baylor College of Medicine
April 26, 2023
Understanding the Regulation of Our Genome
Andrew Stergachis, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Medical Genetics and Genome Sciences, University of Washington
March 29, 2023
On the Origin of (Segmental) Aneuploidies
Joris Vermeesch, PhD
Professor, Laboratory of Cytogenetics and Genome Research, Department of Human Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, KU Leuven, Belgium
March 22, 2023
Enabling and Improving Gene Discovery Across Diverse and Admixed Populations
Elizabeth G. Atkinson, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular & Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine
February 15, 2023
Complex Structural Variation in a Complete Human Genome
Evan Eichler, PhD
Professor, Dept. of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
January 25, 2023
 mRNA Retrotransposition: A Driving Force Generating Genetic Novelties in the Human and Other Vertebrate Genomes 
Pedro A. F. Galante, PhD
Senior Researcher, Hospital Sírio-Libanês, São Paulo, Brazil
December 07, 2023
Mendelian Genomics in the Genetics Age
Jessica Chong, PhD
Assistant Professor, Division of Genetic Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
November 16, 2022
Technologies for Visualizing Fully Assembled Genome
Brian Beliveau, PhD
Assistant Professor of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
October 12, 2022
Biology in Balance: Human Diploid Genome Integrity, Gene Dosage & Genomic Medicine
James Lupski, MD, PhD, DSc (hon)
Cullen Endowed Chair in Molecular Genetics, and Professor of Pediatrics/Program in Integrative and Molecular and Biomedical Sciences/Program in Translational Biology & Molecular Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
September 21, 2022
Hidden Genetic Variation in Congenital Vascular Malformations
James T. Bennett, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, University of Washington Department of Pediatrics, Division of Genetic Medicine and Center for Developmental Biology and Regenerative Medicine at Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Seattle, WA
June 01, 2022
Genomic Medicine for Rare and Common Diseases
Gail Jarvik, MD, PhD
Head and Professor, Division of Medical Genetics, The Arno G. Motulsky Endowed Chair in Medicine, Joint Professor of Medicine and Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
May 10, 2022
Genomic Structural Variations and Beyond
Fritz Sedlazeck, PhD
Associate Professor, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
April 13, 2022
Combining Genetics and Genomics to Decipher Complex Disease
Gregory W. Carter, PhD
Professor, Bernard & Lusia Milch Chair, The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME
March 09, 2022
Rare Disease Genomics in Latin American Populations
Claudia Gonzaga-Jauregui, PhD
Principal Investigator, International Laboratory for Human Genome Research, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), México
March 01, 2022
Genomic Context and Environmental Stimulation of Copy Number Variation in Budding Yeast
Juan Lucas Argueso, PhD
Associate Professor, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
February 09, 2022
The Genetic History of the Peopling of the Americas
Fabrício R. Santos, PhD
Professor, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
November 17, 2021
New Frontiers in African Genomics
Neil Hanchard, MD, DPhil, FACMG
Investigator at the Center for Precision Health Research and Head of Childhood Complex Disease Genomics Section at the National Human Genome Research Institute, Bethesda, MD

Support Science Matters

PNRI’s Science Matters seminar series brings leading voices in genetics and biomedical science to our community—sparking conversation, sharing discoveries, and highlighting research that has real-world impact.

We invite companies and organizations who share our passion for innovation, health, and science education to become corporate sponsors of the Science Matters series.

By sponsoring a seminar, your company can:

  • Align with cutting-edge genetic research
  • Engage with a diverse audience of scientists, students, and science supporters
  • Demonstrate your commitment to scientific advancement

Explore sponsorship levels and benefits on our Corporate Sponsorship page and help us bring more science to more people.

Questions

Contact the Development Team via our contact form or call (206) 726-1233 with any questions you may have about giving to PNRI. We appreciate your support.