Monday, November 5, 2007

The Future of Genotyping: How the X PRIZE for Genomics will Revolutionize Sequencing

Technical Program Details:

        Mr. Marc Hodosh,  Senior Director of the X PRIZE for Genomics

"The Archon X PRIZE for Genomics:  Ushering in a new era of personalized medicine, through competition."

Marc Hodosh joined the X PRIZE Foundation in March 2007 to lead the Archon X PRIZE for Genomics. Most recently, he was a consultant to inventor Dean Kamen at DEKA Research & Development. Marc is also Chairman of Dean’s FIRST Robotics competition in Boston, which inspires thousands of high school students to pursue careers in science & technology.

In 2002, Marc became President of ID One which specialized in facial recognition technology for the U.S. military and intelligence communities. A few years later, he sold ID One’s government business to an undisclosed competitor. Just prior, Marc was Director of Business Development at Viisage Technology (NYSE: ID), a biometric & secure ID company. In this role, he led business partnerships and strategic programs. In 1996 & 1997, he founded two companies which invented and imported consumer products from Asia, and sold via Bed Bath & Beyond, QVC Television, Toys-R-Us, and more. Marc sold one of those companies to the industry’s leading corporation and these products can still be found at retailers including Costco, Target, Wal-Mart, and many others.

Marc holds a BA in Psychology/Neuroscience from Ithaca College and a Masters in Medicine from Boston University Medical School.

Dr. Peter Schweitzer, Director of the Cornell DNA Sequencing and Genotyping Laboratory

"Technology Advances for DNA Sequencing—a Perspective from the University Core Lab"

Peter Schweitzer is the Director of the DNA Sequencing and Genotyping Core Facility at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Dr. Schweitzer received his bachelors degree from Washington University in St. Louis and his doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania and held post-doctoral positions at the Jackson Laboratory and the Johns Hopkins University. Prior to joining Cornell, Dr. Schweitzer directed the DNA Sequencing lab at the W. M. Keck Center for Comparative and Functional Genomics at the University of Illinois. Currently, his core facility in Ithaca operates several high-throughput pipelines for capillary sequencing and SNP genotyping, utilizing robotics for many, if not all, liquid handling steps. In addition, recently his lab has begun operating one of the massively parallel sequencing platforms, i.e. a “next generation sequencer.”

 

Dr. Sadeg M. Faris, CEO and Chairman, Reveo, Inc.

"Can the Whole Human Genome and Epigenome be Sequenced Error Free in Less Than a Minute and for Less Than One Dollar?"

Abstract

The recent sequencing of the whole human genome is considered one of the greatest triumphs of collective efforts of scientists around the world. It opened new vistas to advance humankind's many endeavors, including healthcare, energy, food, to mention just a few.

Imagine what additional advances may result from a cantaloupe-size instrument that can sequence the entire 3 billion base pair for less than a dollar. Imagine further that this ultra-portable low-cost device will be found in every home, in every lab.

The inventor of this new tool had previously also invented, developed and commercialized the world's fastest oscilloscope (the Pico-second Signal Processor (PSP-1000) that continues to hold the speed record until today. This instrument can be shown to be analogous to the proposed DNA sequencer. The analogy can be understood by simply replacing time with space.

Armed with this analogy, the speaker differentiates his new tool from all other sequencing tools, which are based on wet chemistry.

Bio

Sadeg M. Faris, Ph.D. is a world-renowned technologist and entrepreneur, and is well known for his contributions to the field of superconductivity,  electro-optics, energy, water technologies,  and advanced imaging.  Dr. Faris embodies the soul of the consummate inventor as well as the quintessential entrepreneur, with 600 patents issued and pending and founded 9 entrepreneurial companies, commercializing products harnessing the frontiers of science and technology.  He published over 50 science and technology articles. Dr. Faris is also the originator and inventor of the InventQbation Business Model, now acknowledged as highly effective means of achieving Technology Sovereignty.  He is often invited to give lectures on this subject and the subject of Technology Colonization, Globalization by Localization and Energy Sovereignty. His audiences have been government and business leaders, most recently, Japan, China, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, African Union and the Middle East.

At U.C. Berkeley

Dr. Faris received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in 1969, 1971 and 1976 in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to the invention of the STM for his Ph.D. thesis, Dr. Faris used <5 nm tips of tungsten to build a cw and ps-pulse point contact laser detector.  He made experimental and theoretical contributions elucidating the role of quantum mechanical tunneling mechanism being responsible for the fempto second speed of response and other interesting phenomena displayed by the point contact device.

Current Interest

His present interests include: Ultrafast Omni-Molecular Recognition and Applications, DNA sequencing; water technologies;  advanced energy technologies, solar, wind, and metal fuel cells; 3D stereoscopic imaging; 3D farming for 10X yield improvement; nanolithography;  and 3D integrated circuits .

At Reveo, Inc

Dr. Faris is the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Office of Reveo, www.reveo.com.  His mission is to solve problems for humanity harnessing the frontiers of science and technology to develop and commercialize  products.  His proven track record enabled him to attract highly talented scientists and engineers to Reveo as well as funding from government agencies and investors.  The company has built technology infrastructure and presently employs a team of talented scientists, engineers and business leaders dedicated to inventing new technologies and bringing them to market.  The Reveo family has offices and laboratories in New York, California, Taiwan and Malaysia: www.chelix.com; www.evionyx.com; www.vrex.com; www.xellerion.com;

At Hypres, Inc

In April, 1983, he founded Hypres, Inc. of Elmsford, NY. www.hypres.com  As President, CEO and chief technical leader, Faris led Hypres and its development of products. He established the world’s first commercial superconducting   IC Fabrication Facility and foundry service to produce integrated-circuit chips and used them in several products.  Two Hypres measurement oscilloscope products , the PSP 1000 and PSP 750, hold records for being the fastest and most sensitive products of their kind currently on the market.  The products have won several industry awards. 

At IBM

Prior to founding Hypres, Dr. Faris worked at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center in that company's effort to develop an ultra-high-performance computer based on superconducting technology.  As a prolific inventor and problem solver there, Dr. Faris was also involved with designing, fabricating, and testing ultra-fast devices and integrated circuits for logic and memory.  He received seven Invention Achievement Awards, an Outstanding Innovation Award for investing the fastest oscilloscope, and the 1983 Invention of the Year from IBM for inventing the Quiteron, the superconducting transistor . 

Click here to download a complete CV for Dr. Faris

Menu:

Butter Basted Roasted Turkey Carving Station

Penne with Marinara Sauce Chef prepared Pasta Station

50 Imported and Domestic Cheeses with a Fruit Presentation

A variety of Hors d'oeuvres including:

Spanikopita

Vegetable Egg Rolls

Pork Pot Stickers

Vegetable Stuffed Mushroom Caps

Broiled Scallops Wrapped in Bacon

Crabmeat Rangoons

 

To view the promotional flyer for this event, or to print it out so you can post it on a company bulletin board, click here.

There is no charge to attend, however we ask that you please register so that we can more accurately plan for seating and refreshments. 

Vendors:  If you are interested in sponsoring this meeting, please contact us at:

 LRIG.Tech.Valley -at- lab-robotics.org or view our sponsor information sheet