Presentations

Invited Talks

From data engineering to drug discovery: AI’s growing impact on target and biomarker biology
CTTC Life Science Showcase – AI in Translational Research; 2026 July 23; Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

Summary: Invited to speak during an "Industry Perspectives" segment of the Vanderbilt Center for Technology Transfer and Commercialization's annual Life Science Showcase. This year's focus was on applications of AI in translational research.

Phylogeographical reconstruction of precancer-to-cancer transitions in the human colon
Translational and Basic Science Research in Early Lesions (TBEL) Kickoff Meeting; 2023 Feb 16; MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

Summary: Summary of my multimodal spatial atlas of human colorectal cancers and pre-malignant lesions (Heiser, et al. 2023, Cell).

Toward a phylogeographical atlas of human colorectal tumors
Systems Biology of Human Disease Conference; 2022 Jun 20; Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

Summary: Early summary of my work building the multimodal spatial atlas of human colorectal cancers and pre-malignant lesions (Heiser, et al. 2023, Cell).

Deconstructing dimensionality reduction of single-cell data
Quantitative Systems Biology Center Bi-Weekly Seminar Series; 2020 Jan 10; Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

Summary: Invited to give QSBC seminar. Review and benchmarking of dimensionality reduction and integration techniques for single-cell molecular datasets (Heiser & Lau 2020, Cell Reports).

Poster Highlight Talk: A quantitative framework for evaluating single-cell data structure preservation by dimensionality reduction and data integration techniques
Cancer Moonshot Collaborative Meeting; 2019 Nov 19; National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD

Summary: My poster abstract was chosen as a short highlight talk during the Cancer Moonshot annual meeting as a member of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center's HTAN grant. Review and benchmarking of dimensionality reduction and integration techniques for single-cell molecular datasets (Heiser & Lau 2020, Cell Reports).

Mapping colorectal adenoma-carcinoma progression at spatial & single-cell resolution
Human Tumor Atlas Network (HTAN) Junior Investigator Meeting; 2019 Aug 26; National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD

Summary: Overview of Vanderbilt University Medical Center's HTAN group (PIs: Ken S Lau, Robert Coffey, Martha Shrubsole), ongoing projects, and future goals for the grant period.

Abstracts & Conference Papers

Deleted in malignant brain tumors 1 (DMBT1) glycoprotein is lost in colonic dysplasia
Green, et al. (2025) - Gastroenterology

Full Citation: Green EH, Kotrannavar S, Rutherford M, Kaur H, Lunnemann H, Heiser, CN, et al. Sa1221: Deleted in malignant brain tumors 1 (DMBT1) glycoprotein is lost in colonic dysplasia [abstract]. Presented at: Digestive Disease Week; 2025 May 3-6; San Diego, CA. Abstract published in Gastroenterology. doi: 10.1016/S0016-5085(25)01871-2.

DPEP1 maintains microsatellite stability in colorectal cancer at the tumor microenvironment interface
Glass, et al. (2024) - Cancer Immunol Res

Full Citation: Glass SE, Bechard M, Cao Z, Aramnadla R, Zhao P, Ellis S, Fisher E, Revetta F, Washington MK, Ayers G, Heiser, CN, et al. DPEP1 maintains microsatellite stability in colorectal cancer at the tumor microenvironment interface [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference in Cancer Research: Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy; 2024 Oct 18-21; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Immunol Res 2024;12(10 Suppl): Abstract nr A003. doi: 10.1158/2326-6074.TUMIMM24-A003.

The effects of tissue processing and microfluidic factors on single-cell RNA-sequencing data quality in colorectal tissues
Arceneaux, et al. (2022) - Cancer Res

Full Citation: Arceneaux DL, Chen Z, Simmons AJ, Chen B, Heiser, CN, Xu Y. The effects of tissue processing and microfluidic factors on single-cell RNA-sequencing data quality in colorectal tissues [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Colorectal Cancer; 2022 Oct 1-4; Portland, OR. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(23 Suppl_1): Abstract nr B031. doi: 10.1158/1538-7445.CRC22-B031.

Human colon cancer-associated biofilms alter host immune populations and promote tumorigenesis
Markham, et al. (2021) - Gastroenterology

Full Citation: Markham NO, Drewes JL, Domingue JC, Chen B, Heiser, CN, et al. Human colon cancer-associated biofilms alter host immune populations and promote tumorigenesis [abstract]. Presented at: Digestive Disease Week; 2021 May 21-23; Virtual. Abstract published in Gastroenterology. doi: 10.1016/S0016-5085(21)01059-3.

Deleted in malignant brain tumors 1 (DMBT1) glycoprotein is lost in colonic dysplasia
Bao, et al. (2021) - Proc. SPIE 11601, Medical Imaging 2021: Imaging Informatics for Healthcare, Research, and Applications

Full Citation: Bao S, Chiron S, Tang Y, Heiser, CN, et al. A cross-platform informatics system for the Gut Cell Atlas: integrating clinical, anatomical and histological data [conference paper]. Proc. SPIE 11601, Medical Imaging 2021: Imaging Informatics for Healthcare, Research, and Applications, 1160106. 15 Feb 2021. doi: 10.1117/12.2581074.

Posters

Toward a phylogeographical atlas of human colorectal tumors
Human Tumor Atlas Network (HTAN) Bi-annual Meeting; 2022 Jun 27; Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR

Full Citation: Heiser CN. Toward a phylogeographical atlas of human colorectal tumors [poster]. Presented at: Human Tumor Atlas Network (HTAN) Bi-annual Meeting; 2022 Jun 27; Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR.

Preservation of solid biospecimens as dried homogenates for molecular analyses
Association for Molecular Pathology Annual Meeting & Expo; 2016 Nov 10-12; Charlotte, NC

Full Citation: Taylor RT, Hill JE, Fuentes A, Heiser CN, Hill JR. Preservation of solid biospecimens as dried homogenates for molecular analyses [poster]. Presented at: Association for Molecular Pathology Annual Meeting & Expo; 2016 Nov 10-12; Charlotte, NC.

Endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition and its role in vascular remodeling
University of Texas Engineering Undergraduate Research Symposium; 2014 Dec 04; Austin, TX

Full Citation: Heiser CN, Choksi D, Voyvodic P, Baker AB. Endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition and its role in vascular remodeling [poster]. Presented at: University of Texas Engineering Undergraduate Research Symposium; 2014 Dec 04; Austin, TX.