OCTRI and the Knight present John Sninsky, PhD, July 12 at noon

Proliferative and Bioenergetic Capacity of Cultured and Breast Cancer Tumor Cells Revealed through Expression Profiling

John Sninsky, PhD, is a pioneer in delivering molecular diagnostics to enable personalized medicine. He currently serves as vice president of discovery research at Celera. While directing research at Roche Molecular Systems, Dr. Sninsky’s team of scientists devised Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) diagnostic assays for many infectious pathogens, genetic diseases and cancer. In 1985, while working at Cetus, Dr. Sninsky began to use PCR as a means for measuring the amount of HIV circulating in blood. A viable test was announced in 1986; using this test, donated blood could be screened for the virus and, subsequently, the efficaciousness of antiviral drugs could be directly monitored.

Currently, Dr. Sninsky oversees the research and development of panels for molecular diagnosis of heart disease, breast cancer, liver fibrosis, Fragile-X, lung cancer, in addition to existing panels for cystic fibrosis, transplantation, and infectious disease. On May 17, 2011 Celera Diagnostics was acquired by Quest Diagnostics.

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Updated July 5, 2011: Sam Jackson Park Road will be closed starting July 11, limiting vehicle access to Marquam Hill. If possible, please plan to use public or alternative transportation to get to the hill. If you need to drive, please park at the South Waterfront and take the Portland Tram to the hill. Learn more about the construction project.