The roundtable explores how Lamarck's theory of inherited characteristics has been revived through the field of epigenetics: the study of alterations in gene expression or phenotype caused by mechanisms other than primary alterations in nucleotide sequence. The discussion examines how epigenetics recasts the nature versus nurture debate through multifactorial inheritance, epistatic interaction, and transcriptomics.
Speakers
Frances Champagne
Associate Professor of Psychology, Columbia University
Research investigates how genetic and environmental factors interact to shape brain and behavior through epigenetic changes in gene expression, with studies in rodents examining maternal care effects.
Zachary Kaminsky
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Jointly appointed in Bloomberg School of Public Health; earned Ph.D. from University of Toronto studying psychiatric epigenetics.
Fei Li
Assistant Professor of Biology, New York University
Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics from University of Texas at Austin; conducted postdoctoral research at UT Southwestern and UC Berkeley.
Jessica Tyler
Professor, Department of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Born England 1969; graduated University of Sheffield with Biochemistry degree; Ph.D. from MRC Virology Unit, Glasgow.
