Ioannis Vlachos, PhD (Working group leader)

Harvard Medical School

Dr. Vlachos is an Assistant Professor of Pathology in Harvard Medical School and the Director of the Bioinformatics Unit of the Non-coding RNA Precision Diagnostics and Bioinformatics Core, Harvard Initiative for RNA Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He is also the Co-Director of the Bioinformatics Program at the Cancer Research Institute (CRI) and an Associate Member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.

He has worked extensively on generating in silico/experimental methods that elucidate the regulatory genome, and especially non-coding RNAs such as microRNAs and long non-coding RNAs. The databases, models, and algorithms he has created empower researchers worldwide in decrypting ncRNA biogenesis, as well as in prioritizing ncRNAs as biomarkers or therapeutic targets.

His current research focuses on the effects of non-coding variation and ncRNAs on cancer initiation, progression and treatment. Non-coding mutations and RNAs can be utilized as effective therapeutic targets and as biomarkers for diagnosis or patient stratification and management. His long-term vision is to create the necessary methods and approaches that will enable the seamless incorporation of the regulatory non-coding genome in personalized clinical decision making.