UCSC has made a vital, impactful leap into diagnostic testing with COVID-19. Now, we are on a path to leverage this work to bring a diagnostic genomics lab to UCSC. In this Kraw Lecture, we discuss how this diagnostic work at UCSC will impact the clinical environment. Dr. Sheri Spunt from Stanford will contribute by discussing the UCSC-Stanford partnership that is transforming the clinical experiences of children and their families, through the use of precision genomics. Professor Vaske and graduate student Yvonne Vasquez will discuss the genomics research behind diagnostics test development and implementation.
Olena Vaske
Olena Vaske co-founded the Treehouse Childhood Cancer Initiative when she was a postdoctoral researcher in David Haussler’s group in the UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute. She joined the UC Santa Cruz faculty in 2018, and is the inaugural holder of the Colligan Presidential Chair in Pediatric Genomics. Olena is an ABMGG board-certified clinical molecular geneticist and brings her clinical expertise and certifications to the operation of the COVID-19 molecular diagnostic lab, now housed in the Colligan Clinical Diagnostic Lab at UC Santa Cruz’ Westside Research Park. Olena was a co-founder of the lab.
Sheri Spunt
Sheri Spunt is the Endowed Professor of Pediatric Cancer at Stanford University and a pediatric hematologist-oncologist, affiliated with Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, Stanford. Her research focuses primarily on the management of children, adolescents, and young adults with soft tissue sarcomas. She also has an interest in developmental therapeutics and late effects of cancer therapy. She received her medical degree from University of Michigan Medical School and has been in practice for more than 20 years.
Yvonne Vasquez
Yvonne Vasquez is a graduate student researcher in the Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Department at UC Santa Cruz. She is a member of the Treehouse Childhood Cancer Initiative and Vaske Lab on campus. She received her Bachelor’s degree in MCD Biology at UCSC in 2019 and is one of the first staff members of the COVID-19 molecular diagnostic lab. Her current research concerns using genomics to better understand rare and difficult-to-treat pediatric cancers and identifying novel targets for treatment.
Isabel Bjork
Conversation moderated by Isabel Bjork, Executive Director of the Genomics Institute. Isabel previously served as Director of Pediatric Cancer Precision Medicine, where she helped build the team that is now the Treehouse Childhood Cancer Initiative. A co-founder of the COVID-19 molecular diagnostic lab, now housed in the Colligan Clinical Diagnostic Lab at UC Santa Cruz’ Westside Research Park, Isabel contributes strategic and operational expertise to bring essential diagnostic testing capacity to Santa Cruz. She is committed to bringing pediatric genomics diagnostic testing to the newly established lab. Isabel is a licensed attorney and trained in developmental psychology.
Questions? Contact the UC Santa Cruz Special Events Office at specialevents@ucsc.edu.