Gold Medal Winner 2024 - Jonathan Dennis, Ph.D.

Register Today

Jonathan Dennis, Ph.D.

2024 TSS Gold Medal Awardee The Promise of Epigenetics: Enhancing Precision Medicine and Promoting Social Justice

The genome of an organism, encoded by DNA, serves as the instruction book for establishing and maintaining an organism’s development. The DNA sequence is stable and remains largely unchanged throughout an organism’s life. However, the relatively stable DNA sequence can be annotated with marks, creating an epigenome. Factors such as life experience, diet, stress, and environment influence the timing and placement of these marks. Importantly, epigenetic marks can be transient, more stable, or even inherited through generations. Characterization of the epigenome holds broad promise, from precisely classifying cancer subtypes to empowering disadvantaged populations.