Crash Course on Next Generation Sequencing
The workshop is preceded by a half day “crash course” on Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies. Aimed at Early Stage Researchers and Trainees. This bespoke course will provide an overview on the methodological processes and computational analyses underlying NGS along with ample opportunity for networking and discussion.
Crash Course Fee: $30 CAD - Register for the Workshop and the Crash Course here.
Invited Speakers
Keemo Delos Santos
Sequencing Technician,
Division of Orthopedics,
Schroeder Arthritis Institute
​
Canada
Keemo Delos Santos is the Sequencing Specialist for the Schroeder Arthritis Research Institute in Toronto, Canada. She oversees the operations of the facility, coordinates the projects, assesses quality control of samples and sequencing library preparation, and conducts any necessary training and troubleshooting on library preparation. Currently, the Arthritis Centre for Diagnostic and Therapeutic Innovation offers total, mRNA, and miRNA sequencing services as well as single cell and nuclei RNA sequencing.
Dr. Shabana Vohra
Senior Bioinformatician,
Division of Orthopedics,
Schroeder Arthritis Institute
​
Canada
Dr. Shabana Vohra is a Scientific Associate at the Schroeder Arthritis Institute, University Health Network, specializing in the bioinformatic analysis of transcriptomic and epigenetic data. She excels in diverse techniques such as bulk RNA-seq, ATAC-seq, and ChIP-seq, with a primary focus on single-cell multiomics data. Dr. Vohra has significant involvement in numerous projects centered around single-cell analysis, showcasing her expertise. Her skills extend to handling large datasets and integrating information from different sequencing protocols, providing valuable insights into a comprehensive understanding of biological processes. Actively collaborating with various research groups, she engages in interdisciplinary research projects
Dr. Chiara Pastrello
Computational Biologist,
Division of Orthopedics,
Schroeder Arthritis Institute
​
Canada
Dr. Chiara Pastrello is a computational biologist who works in Dr. Igor Jurisica's lab. Chiara’s path started as a molecular biologist, working on hereditary tumour projects at the National Cancer Institute CRO Aviano. During her Ph.D. in medical genetics, she discovered the value of bioinformatics tools and the need for quality data curation. She then joined the Jurisica lab as a visiting scientist first, and a research associate then, to expand her computational expertise and contribute to developing bioinformatics tools that can support both computer scientists' and biologists' research. Chiara is the lead computational biologist at the Informatics core facility of the Schroeder Arthritis Institute.
Pratibha Potla
Senior Bioinformatician,
Division of Orthopedics,
Schroeder Arthritis Institute
​
Canada
Pratibha Potla is a Senior Bioinformatics Analyst in the Kapoor Lab at the Schroeder Arthritis Institute for 5 years; primarily responsible for quality control, processing and analyzing different kinds of sequenced data. Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) data analysis has been her specialized field since she started working in 2009. Pratibha has designed and published a custom miRNA-seq pipeline using open-source software, along with RNA-seq pipeline which aids data analysis of the osteoarthritis patients towards finding a potential cure. Recently, she also has completed setting up a pipeline for Single-nuclei RNA-seq data, which is an interesting method to explore sequenced data.