Research
- Research Topics
- Cell Biology and Tumor Biology
- Stem Cells and Cancer
- Inflammatory Stress in Stem Cells
- Experimental Hematology
- Molecular Embryology
- Signal Transduction and Growth Control
- Epigenetics
- Redox Regulation
- Vascular Oncology and Metastasis
- Clinical Neurobiology
- Molecular Neurogenetics
- Chaperones and Proteases
- Vascular Signaling and Cancer
- Molecular Neurobiology
- Mechanisms Regulating Gene Expression
- Molecular Biology of Centrosomes and Cilia
- Dermato-Oncology
- Pediatric Leukemia
- Tumour Metabolism and Microenvironment
- Personalized Medical Oncology
- Molecular Hematology - Oncology
- Cancer Progression and Metastasis
- Translational Surgical Oncology
- Neuronal Signaling and Morphogenesis
- Cell Signaling and Metabolism
- Cell Fate Engineering and Disease Modeling
- Cancer Drug Development
- Cell Morphogenesis and Signal Transduction
- Functional and Structural Genomics
- Molecular Genome Analysis
- Molecular Genetics
- Pediatric Neurooncology
- Cancer Genome Research
- Chromatin Networks
- Functional Genome Analysis
- Theoretical Systems Biology
- Neuroblastoma Genomics
- Signaling and Functional Genomics
- Signal Transduction in Cancer and Metabolism
- RNA-Protein Complexes and Cell Proliferation
- Systems Biology of Signal Transduction
- Areas of Interest
- Advancement of clinical proteomics for systems medicine
- Bridging from the single cell to the cell population – Epo-induced cellular responses and erythroleukemia
- Deciphering tumor microenvironment interactions determining lung cancer development
- Mechanisms controlling the compensation of liver injury and towards model-based biomarkers for early detection of liver cancer
- Application of dynamic pathway modelling for personalized medicine
- Group Members
- Publications
- Open Positions
- Funding
- Teaching
- Areas of Interest
- Molecular thoracic Oncology
- Proteomics of Stem Cells and Cancer
- Computational Genomics and System Genetics
- Applied Functional Genomics
- Applied Bioinformatics
- Translational Medical Oncology
- Metabolic crosstalk in cancer
- Pediatric Glioma Research
- Cancer Epigenomics
- Translational Pediatric Sarcoma Research
- Artificial Intelligence in Oncology
- Mechanisms of Genomic Variation and Data Science
- Neuropathology
- Pediatric Oncology
- Neurooncology
- Somatic Evolution and Early Detection
- Translational Control and Metabolism
- Soft-Tissue Sarcoma
- Precision Sarcoma Research
- Brain Mosaicism and Tumorigenesis
- Mechanisms of Genome Control
- Translational Gastrointestinal Oncology and Preclinical Models
- Translational Lymphoma Research
- Mechanisms of Leukemogenesis
- Genome Instability in Tumors
- Developmental Origins of Pediatric Cancer
- Brain Tumor Translational Targets
- Translational Functional Cancer Genomics
- Regulatory Genomics and Cancer Evolution
- SPRINT
- Cancer Risk Factors and Prevention
- Cancer Epidemiology
- Biostatistics
- Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research
- Health Economics
- Physical Activity, Prevention and Cancer
- Preventive Oncology
- Personalized Early Detection of Prostate Cancer
- Digital Biomarkers for Oncology
- Tumorigenesis and molecular cancer prevention
- Genomic Epidemiology
- Cancer Survivorship
- Immunology and Cancer
- Cellular Immunology
- Molecular Oncology of Gastrointestinal Tumors
- Immunoproteomics
- Personalized Immunotherapy
- mRNA Cancer Immunotherapies
- Translational Immunotherapy
- B Cell Immunology
- Immune Diversity
- Structural Biology of Infection and Immunity
- Applied Tumor Immunity
- Neuroimmunology and Brain Tumor Immunology
- Adaptive Immunity and Lymphoma
- Dermal Oncoimmunology
- Immune Regulation in Cancer
- Systems Immunology and Single Cell Biology
- GMP & T Cell Therapy
- Immune Monitoring
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- Imaging and Radiooncology
- Radiology
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- Computational Radiology Research Group
- Contrast Agents In Radiology Research Group
- Neuro-Oncologic Imaging Research Group
- Radiological Early Response Assessment Of Modern Cancer Therapies
- Imaging In Monoclonal Plasma Cell Disorders
- 7 Tesla MRI - Novel Imaging Biomarkers
- Functional Imaging
- Visualization And Forensic Imaging
- PET/MRI
- Dual- and Multienergy CT
- Radiomics Research Group
- Prostate Research Group
- Breast Imaging Research Group
- Bone marrow
- Musculoskeletal Imaging
- Microstructural Imaging Research Group
- Staff
- Patients
- Research
- Medical Physics in Radiology
- X-Ray Imaging and Computed Tomography
- Federated Information Systems
- Translational Molecular Imaging
- Medical Physics in Radiation Oncology
- Biomedical Physics in Radiation Oncology
- Intelligent Medical Systems
- Medical Image Computing
- Radiooncology - Radiobiology
- Smart Technologies for Tumor Therapy
- Radiation Oncology
- Molecular Radiooncology
- Nuclear Medicine
- Translational Radiation Oncology
- Molecular Biology of Systemic Radiotherapy
- Interactive Machine Learning
- Intelligent Systems and Robotics in Urology
- Multiparametric methods for early detection of prostate cancer
- Translational Molecular Imaging in Oncologic Therapy Monitoring
- Molecular Mechanisms of Head and Neck Tumors
- Radiology
- Infection, Inflammation and Cancer
- Tumor Virology
- Pathogenesis of Virus-Associated Tumors
- Immunotherapy and Immunoprevention
- Applied Tumor Biology
- Virotherapy
- Virus-associated Carcinogenesis
- Chronic Inflammation and Cancer
- Microbiome and Cancer
- Experimental Hepatology, Inflammation and Cancer
- Infections and Cancer Epidemiology
- Tumorvirus-specific Vaccination Strategies
- Mammalian Cell Cycle Control Mechanisms
- Molecular Therapy of Virus-Associated Cancers
- DNA Vectors
- Episomal-Persistent DNA in Cancer- and Chronic Diseases
- Cell Biology and Tumor Biology
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- Antiquariat - Second Hand
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- Flyer - The Cancer Cooperation Program
- List Publications 1976-2004
- Highlight-Projects
- Cooperational Research Program with Israel: DKFZ - MOST in Cancer Research
- Cooperations with industrial companies
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- Cross Program Topic RNA@DKFZ
- Cross Program Topic Epigenetics@dkfz
- Cross Program Topic Single Cell Sequencing
- WHO Collaborating Centers
- DKFZ Site Dresden
- Health + Life Science Alliance Heidelberg Mannheim
Division of Regulatory Genomics and Cancer Evolution
Prof. Dr. Duncan Odom

Comparing the functionof genetic sequences among mammals can reveal the mechanisms of normal and cancer evolution. Image courtesy of C Ernst.
© dkfz.de
Dr Odom’s laboratory studies how genetic sequence information shapes the cell's DNA regulatory landscape and thus the trajectory of cancer genome evolution. We are mainly an experimental genomics laboratory with long-standing collaborative alliances with other - particularly computational - research groups. The breadth of our three major scientific themes provides substantial latitude to tailor particular projects to the scientific interest of incoming students and postdocs.
First, we are testing how genetic sequence variation shapes genome regulation and gene expression in phenotypically normal somatic tissues. One strategy is to profile and compare regulatory architectures and function among closely- and distantly-related mammals. Our laboratory is known for its early pioneering application of interspecies comparisons to reveal the extensive and rapid turn-over of tissue-specific transcription factor binding, CTCF/insulator elements, polymerase occupancies, and enhancer activities. We are actively developing novel approaches to integrate recently developed single-cell transcriptional, spatial, and epigenomic datasets [funded by an ERC Advanced Grant].
Second, we are establishing the earliest mechanisms of cancer genome formation. We are use chemical carcinogenesis to create and analyse liver tumours in multiple different mammalian species. This approach is the first artificially created and carefully controlled tumour cohorts that can be reliably and quantitatively compared, in order to reveal the underlying principles of cancer genome evolution. Our work has recently discovered that chemical carcinogen-driven tumours can carry megabase scale mutational asymmetries, and we are exploiting this to test how mutations are first established in the cancer genome.
Third, we are exploring how ageing interacts with genetic diversity in shaping genome stability. We exploit closely related mouse species with a similar organismal phenotype, but with highly divergent genomes. We have used this strategy to begin exploring how tissue function changes in the bone marrow and the female reproductive tract. Recent published studies from the Odom lab have used single-cell transcriptional analysis to demonstrate how ageing can result in substantial increases in cell-to-cell transcriptional variability in the immune system.