Australasian Epigenetic Alliance (AEpiA)

Join the AEpiA community and be part of Australia’s growing epigenetics network.

AEpiA members receive discounted conference registration, a great reason to get involved ahead of #AEpiA2026!

Join at: www.aepia.org.au/becomeamember

AEpiA 2026 early bird registration open now!
Calling all epigenetics researchers, let’s meet, share, and connect!

14–16 Sep | Adelaide 🇦🇺 | National Wine Centre
Register: 2026aepia.com.au/registration
Abstracts: 2026aepia.com.au/abstracts

#AEpiA2026 #Epigenetics #Chromatin

DNA bendability inside the nucleosome regulates INO80’s nucleosome positioning Shukla et al. find that the INO80 chromatin remodeler positions nucleosomes at specific genomic positions, including the 5′ end of genes. INO80 recognizes DNA shape rather than a unique DNA sequence. Nucleosome movement is blocked when INO80 encounters inflexible DNA inside the nucleosome, mediated by the DNA-rigidity-sensitive binding of its Arp5 subunit.

DNA bendability inside the nucleosome regulates INO80’s nucleosome positioning

Thank you again to everyone who participated in the event. We are so delighted that so many of you joined us and contributed to the energy in the room (and on Zoom!).

#AEpiA #Epigenetics #EMCR #ResearchCommunity #CareerDevelopment #ScientificNetworking

📝 Join the AEpiA Community
Not an AEpiA member yet? Membership is free for students and discounted for ECRs. Joining gives you access to AEpiA initiatives, events, awards and networking opportunities throughout the year. 👉 Become a member today www.aepia.org.au/becomeamember

From venue logistics to catering, AV checks, and troubleshooting unexpected challenges on the day, our organising committee were a huge part of the event success

👏 Thank you
Event conveners @scientistkate.bsky.social and Alex Woodworth would like to thank our organising team Ashleigh Geiger, Marion Turpin, Katrina Mitchell, Eleanor Glancy, @scholarticone.bsky.social, Chris Siu Yeung Chow, @trungbiotech.bsky.social, @braydonsci.bsky.social & Rachel Woodhouse

🙏 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀
This event would not have been possible without the support of NovogeneAIT Genomics, Integrated Sciences, New England Biolabs and AGRF Ltd. Your partnership helps us continue delivering opportunities for EMCRs across Australia.

A highlight of the day was our Career Panel. A huge thank you to @nireynon.bsky.social, @aachinger.bsky.social, Luke Isbel and Dhanya Sooraj for sharing their insights, experiences, and advice. Your openness and encouragement were deeply appreciated by our EMCR community.

And congrats to.....

Sophie Navickas from @menzies-research.bsky.social for "Involvement of BRG1 in regulating the medulloblastoma epigenome"

Congrats Sophie!

Our next flash talk winner was 🥁

Sarah Williams from @garvaninstitute.bsky.social for "DNA methylation estimates of immune cell abundance have prognostic potential in triple negative breast cancer"

Congrats Sarah!

We had three winners of the flash talk session. The first is 🥁

Sarah Williams from @petermaccc.bsky.social for "Investigating how the maintenance of epithelial integrity prevents neoplastic tumours"

Congratulations Sarah!

We are thrilled to announce the winner of the short talks was

🏅 Jake Newland from @menzies-research.bsky.social for his talk "Differing modes of epigenetic repression in the Drosophila brain revealed by large-scale targeted DamID profiling and chromatin state analysis"

Congratulations Jake!

🧬 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁 & 𝗙𝗹𝗮𝘀𝗵 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀
We heard an impressive series of short and flash talks from our AEpiA members from Melbourne, Sydney and Hobart in Austalian and Blenheim in New Zealand. Our presentation prizes were generously sponsored by NovogeneAIT Genomics!

🎉 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖 𝙙𝙖𝙮! 🎉

On Thursday we held our inaugural EMCR Mini Symposium, bringing together six in-person nodes plus online attendees from across Australasia. It was fantastic to see our community come together to share science, build connections, and finish 2025 strong.

#EMCR #AEpiA #epigenetics

A photo of prize

Here’s your sign to go to an @aepia.bsky.social symposium! You might win a prize!

If you’re planning to join us online, make sure you register before the deadline, the Zoom link will be sent only to registered attendees.

Secure your spot today 👉 www.aepia.org.au/emcr-symposium
We look forward to seeing you there!

⏰ Final call for online registration!

Online registration for the Australasian Epigenetics Alliance EMCR Mini Symposium closes Wednesday 1 December at 5pm AEDT www.aepia.org.au/emcr-symposium

#EMCR #AEpiA #EpigeneticsResearch #EMCRsymposium #networking

8/n
The Burr Lab is proudly supported by Snow Medical and the NHMRC.
#AEpiA #Epigenetics #LungCancer #CancerResearch #GeneRegulation

7/n
This unique combination keeps the gene in a poised state, ready to switch on or off. In healthy cells, this allows flexibility during development. In cancer, this balance can be disrupted, leading to inappropriate switching of key genes that support tumour growth, survival, or immune evasion.

6/n
🧬 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬?
Bivalent genes carry two opposing epigenetic marks on histones, the proteins DNA is wrapped around, at the same time:
H3K4me3, a mark linked to gene activation
H3K27me3, a mark linked to gene repression

5/n
This discovery positions Menin inhibitors as a promising new therapeutic strategy for SCLC. The Burr Lab is now working to translate these insights toward clinical trials, with the goal of bringing more effective and durable treatments to people affected by this aggressive cancer.

4/n
They found that blocking an epigenetic regulator called Menin can reset this faulty control, making cancer cells more visible to the immune system.

Targeting Menin disrupts the KMT2A/B and polycomb balance to paradoxically activate bivalent genes - Nature Cell Biology With whole-genome screens using a bivalent MHC class I gene expression readout, Sparbier et al. identify opposing roles for Menin and KMT2A/B in modulating activating H3K4me3 versus repressive H3K27me...

3/n
In a 2023 Nature Cell Biology study (www.nature.com/articles/s41...), the team uncovered how a special class of genes known as bivalent genes are misregulated in small cell lung cancer (SCLC).

2/n
Understanding why cancers evade the immune system is one of the biggest challenges in developing effective therapies. The @burrlab.bsky.social at the @jcsmr.bsky.social, ANU, is working to understand the epigenetic mechanisms that allow lung cancer cells to support their survival

1/n
💙 🤍 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐋𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫, 𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡, in both of which Epigenetics plays an important role

🧬 𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫 by the Burr Laboratory www.burrlab.com/

#AEpiA #Epigenetics #LungCancer

We are thankful to our event sponsors and partners for making this event possible - NovogeneAIT Genomics, Integrated Sciences, New England Biolabs, AGRF and of course Australasian Epigenetics Alliance AEpiA!

#EMCR #AEpiA #ResearchCommunity #Epigenetics #Networking

We are excited to welcome you all next week to our inaugural Australasian Epigenetics Alliance EMCR Mini Symposium!

Want to join?

There is still time to register for virtual attendance, visit www.aepia.org.au/emcr-symposium to join us and for more information about the event.

Day one has been packed with inspiring talks and exciting science, including standout epigenetics research driving new insights into ageing biology 🧬✨

We’re looking forward to another great day tomorrow, with even more epigenetics talks still to come! If you’re attending, come say hi!

𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗱! 👀

Our AEpiA Committee Chair @piptaberlay.bsky.social and Co-Chair @nireynon.bsky.social, are representing the epigenetics community at the 𝗔𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗕𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 in Sydney!
www.ausagenet.com/event-detail...

#epigenetics #ageingresearch #AEpiA