Dr Isidro Cortes Ciriano
Meet Isidro, a co-investigator on SAMBAI
Isidro joined the EMBL-EBI as Research Group Leader in June 2019 after completing postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School and receiving a PhD from the Pasteur Institute. His laboratory focuses on the development of computational methods for early cancer detection and to study the mechanisms underpinning cancer evolution using whole-genome sequencing. Recent work by his group includes the discovery of novel mechanisms of cancer development, such as Loss-Translocation-Amplification chromothripsis in ostesarcoma.
A major goal of his group is to harness novel technologies applicable in clinical settings to improve early cancer detection and treatment selection. For instance, his laboratory is leading the application of long-read sequencing technologies for tumour profiling and liquid biopsy analysis through various national studies, such as the CRUK-funded Stratified Medicine Pediatrics (SMPEDS) programme. In SAMBAI, Isidro will co-lead the genomics analysis work package, with a focus on harnessing long-read sequencing methods to study complex forms of structural vation in tumours using technologies compatible with the analysis of clinical samples in limited-resource settings, thereby contributing to reducing current disparities in access to genomic medicine.