| Titels | Prof. dr. |
| Initials | R. |
| Main position | Hoofd afdeling carcinogenese NKI/hoogleraar UU |
| Disciplines | Genetics |
| Oncology | |
| Chair | Moleculaire Carcinogenese |
| Domain | Medical, Biomedical and Health Sciences |
| Membership | Member |
| Since | 2007 |
| Member of Medical, Biomedical and Health Sciences | |
| Employed by |
Nederlands Kanker Instituut
Division of Molecular Carniogenesis Plesmanlaan 121 1066 CX Amsterdam tel. 020 512 1952 r.bernards@nki.nl |
| Research/publications |
The scientific accomplishments of René Bernards include the development of MammaPrint, the first clinically-used gene expression profile for breast cancer. To bring this discovery to the clinic he co-founded 'Agendia', a genomics-based diagnostic company that started offering the first microarray-based diagnostic test for the clinical management of breast cancer in 2004.
His laboratory also developed the first shRNA vector for gene silencing in mammalian cells and used this vector to create a genome-scale library of shRNA vectors. His laboratory has used this vector collection to identify biomarkers of response to cancer drugs and to identify particularly powerful drug combinations for the treatment of cancer. Some of the combination therapies suggested by these genetic screens are currently showing promise in the clinic.