Genome regulation, cellular circuitry and epigenomics

We build comprehensive models of cell and tissue circuits in order to understand how human disease arises from variations in these processes. We monitor the activities of many molecular elements that define and regulate the cell, including DNA, RNA, transcription factors, chromatin regulators, histone modifications, and signaling proteins.

Credit: Sumiti Vinayak

Intestinal tissue infected with Cryptosporidium, with arrows pointing to the parasites.

In disease, a key gene regulator could be missing or defective. A critical epigenetic mark could be miswritten. A key circuit might be over- or under-active. We use a variety of tools — including genetic perturbations and genome- and proteome-wide measurements — to decipher the functions of coding and non-coding regions of the genome and study cellular circuitry, with a strong emphasis on the analysis of single cells.