SEMINAR: Characterizing androgen receptor regulatory grammar

Guest:  Nathan Lack, Koc University & Vancouver Prostate Centre

Title: Characterizing androgen receptor regulatory grammar

Date/Time: 24 October 2025, 13:40

Location: FENS L029

Abstract: The androgen receptor (AR) is the central driver of prostate cancer growth and proliferation. Yet where AR binds DNA and which genes it controls remain poorly understood. Traditional motif-based models fail to explain AR binding, pointing to a hidden regulatory layer shaped by partner proteins and higher order DNA interactions . To uncover these regulatory layers, we applied deep learning to high-resolution functional genomic data, enabling us to model the complex “regulatory grammar” of AR binding that has so far remained hidden. Guided by these models, we experimentally validated  computational predictions to expose actionable vulnerabilities in AR signaling and establish a generalizable framework for decoding transcription factor dependencies across cancers.
 

Bio: Dr. Nathan Lack is a Senior Research Scientist at the Vancouver Prostate Centre and Associate Professor at Koç University. He obtained a DPhil (PhD) in Pharmacology from the University of Oxford in 2009 and then did a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of British Columbia with Dr. Emma Guns and Professor Paul Rennie. Nathan became an Assistant Professor at Koç University in the School of Medicine (Istanbul) in 2011 and was awarded Associate Professorship in 2015. He joined the Vancouver Prostate Centre as an independent researcher in 2017. His laboratory works to better understand the molecular underpinnings of prostate cancer to develop more effective treatments for this common disease. In addition to his academic research, Nathan identified a BF3-targeting anti-androgen that is currently in Phase clinical development to treat Kennedy's disease. The Lack laboratory is supported by extensive funding from national, international and industrial sources.