The Laboratory will perform all microarray experiments for the DC-THERA Golden Reference Experiment , a microarray analysis of genomic signatures associated to key DC stimuli and  a large scale  microarray investigation of  DC related immunoresponse in historical samples of melanoma patients.

The Genomic Laboratory has 17 staff and includes a microarray facility producing arrays by contact printing (using a Lucidea Contact Printer) and microarray scanners, an Affymetrix GeneChip System and an Illumina Beadstation System. The Laboratory has received Illuimina’s CSPro quality certification for Gene expression, Goldengate Genotyping and Infinium Genotyping Services. As part of the certification the laboratory has passed successfully tests on lab procedures, sample handling, experimental set up and data analysis. It is the only laboratory in Europe that has received certification for three types of services, so far and the third in the world.

 Further equipment includes a MALDI-TOF based Sequenom System, Real-Time PCR machines and High-Resolution Malting equipment. These systems are used for gene expression profiling, protein-DNA binding and genotyping applications. (http://www.well.ox.ac.uk/genomics). The Genomics Laboratory also runs one of the UK’s biggest High-Throughput Sequencing production facilities including four Illumina GA II Genome Analysers and two Roche GSFLXs.

Research in the genomics laboratory in centred around transcriptome (and in particular miRNA expression) analysis in hypoxia and cancer with focus on gene regulation by transcription factors that are hypoxia inducible as well as factors involved in other inflammation such as members of the NFkb family and oct-1. The laboratory works on the development of bioinformatic tools, establishing high-throughput sequencing technologies,  novel  microarray technologies for the quantitative analysis of protein-DNA binding and microfluidics applications in collaboration with companies such as Oxford Gene Technologies (UK), LETI (France) and Nanotechnologies in collaboration with Oxford Nanolabs.

The Genomics Laboratory participates in the following other EU funded projects: micro2DNA (FP6),  MODELIN (FP7) and INTEGER (FP7). Further funding is received by the Wellcome Trust and the MRC.

The Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics (WTCHG) at the University of Oxford was established in 1994 to undertake research into the genetic basis of common diseases. The scientific objective of the Centre is to explore all aspects of the genetic susceptibility of disease including the localisation of genes involved in common diseases, characterisation of the variants responsible for susceptibility, the understanding of how these DNA variants may contribute to risk of disease in the population and finally, how such genetic factors contribute biologically to a disease process. The Centre houses multi-disciplinary research teams in human genetics, functional genomics, bioinformatics, statistical genetics and structural biology, as well as its own administrative and management personnel.  The Centre is internationally acknowledged as one of the leaders in its field and has recently secured the renewal of its core funding as a result of outstanding reviews. Professor Peter Donnelly is the newly appointed director, a scientist renowned for his leadership in the international HapMap and WTCC Consortia. The Centre includes core groups for genomics bioinformatics, statistics and IT support as well as its own administrative and management personnel..

The Head of Genomics:

Dr. Ioannis (Jiannis)  Ragoussis is Head of Genomics at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics and University Reader in Genomics. He studied Biochemistry at the University of Tuebingen, Germany were he also received his PhD in Biochemistry in 1988. He received a two year EMBO fellowship to perform post-doctoral studies at the ICRF Laboratories in London, UK, where he became an ICFR fellow. In 1992 he became Lecturer in Medical Genetics at Guy’s hospital, where he set up the Genomic Research laboratory and became Reader in Genomic Research at King’s College London. He joined Oxford University’s  Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics in October 2001 and set up the microarray and genotyping facilities. Since then he has been working on Functional genomic methodology, including approaches for the quantitative analysis of protein-DNA interactions and the transcriptional response to hypoxia. He is also working on numerous genetics projects (autism, asthma, chlamydia infection) and is involved in the development of methods utilising genomic SNP arrays for copy number analysis. Recently he has set up the WTCHG’s Illumina GA II sequencing machines and is collaborating with Bioinformatics, Statistics and the Biomedical Research Centre on what is now becoming one of the UK’s largest high-throughput sequencing facilities.

Dr. Ragoussis is the recipient of a SEEDA funded business training fellowship in order to promote interactions between the University and industry. In this capacity he is working with companies such as Roche, Oxford Nanolabs, Oxford Gene Technologies and Medical Solutions in order to foster collaborations on genomic technologies and data analysis.