EPIGEN

The goal of the EPIGEN project is to understand how epigenetic mechanisms regulate biological processes ,determine phenotypic variation and contribute to the onset and progression of diseases .The project is highly multidisciplinary and involves more than 40 Italian research teams ,working in close collaboration using a wide range of experimental models ,applying mainly genomewide approaches .The participants are all academic laboratories based in research institutions from all over Italy ,who share a commitment to perform culting edge epigenomics research .

The Epigenomics Flagship Project (Progetto Bandiera Epigenomica) EPIGEN is part of a new initiative from the Italian Ministry of Education ,University and Research (MIUR) and Tha National Council of Research of Italy (CNR)to promote excellence ,competitiveness and increase the visibility of the research which is carried out in the country .EPIGEN is also meant to be an important contributor to the efforts of the International Humam Epigenomiics Consortium (IHEC).
The Epigenomics Flagship project has been launched very recently and currently consists of 40 teams of researchers in the field of Epigenomics .Our consortium is highly multisciplinary ,our laboratories employ different experimental approaches and technologies so we aim to establish close collaborations and keep these synergies during and beyond the lifetime of the project .
The goal of the EPIGEN project is to understand ,using a wide range of experimental models and approaches ,how epigenetic mechanisms regulate biological processes ,determine phenotypic variation and contribute to the onset and progression of diseases .
The EPIGEN project is organized in 8 subprojects ,five of which constitute the consortium 's main research axes ,and the other three are platforms for service and technological development in DNA sequencing , RNA sequencing and imaging .This structure will allow us to work in a coherent and concerted manner towards understanding epigenetic code ,its pathological alterations and develop new epigenetic therapies .
The creation of a bioinformatics platform within the project will bring together the expertise on this field currently available across the country .Algorithms and software for epigenomics analyses will be developed by the participants of this subproject and made available through the EPIGEN website .Training of scientists in bioinformatics will be also one of the roles of this platform ,as an attempt to increase the number of bioinformaticians in Italy .We envisage to organize several workshops throughout the entire duration of the project .The center for these activities is located at CASPUR (Consortium for the Application of Supercomputing for Universities and Research) in Rome