Sebastian Oltean
Professor
University of Bristol
United Kingdom
Biography
Dr Sebastian Oltean studied clinical medicine at “Iuliu Hatieganu†Medical School in Cluj- Napoca, Romania followed by training in Nephrology and Dialysis. He then moved to USA where in 2004 obtained a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, followed by postdoctoral training at Duke University Medical Center, where he studied connections between alternative splicing regulation and disease. In 2008 he moved to University of Bristol (UK) where he is now a University research fellow and principal investigator. One of his main research themes is the understanding of therapeutic potential of targeting alternative splicing in diabetic nephropathy.
Research Interest
My main research interests include the study of alternative splicing in vivo, coordinated regulation of alternative splicing in physiology and disease as well as manipulation of splice isoforms choice for therapeutic goals. Alternative splicing is the main process that decides the diversity of proteins in our bodies. It is estimated that more than 90% of genes are alternatively spliced in humans and therefore this process affects all cellular properties. The function of the majority of splicing isoforms is not characterized yet. Numerous splicing isoforms have been associated with disease progression in recent years and there is much interest in understanding their contribution to pathogenesis and how this can be reversed.