Mentor Areas
The overarching goal of our hybrid wet and dry laboratory is to exploit the epigenome in addition to mouse and human genetics to understand how T cell identity is determined during development and after immune activation. Why the epigenome? Information encoded in DNA is interpreted, modified, and propagated as chromatin. The diversity of inputs encountered by immune cells demands a matching capacity for transcriptional outcomes provided by the combinatorial and dynamic nature of epigenetic processes. Advances in genome editing and genome-wide analyses have revealed unprecedented complexity of chromatin pathways involved in the immune response, offering explanations to long-standing questions and presenting new challenges.
Description:
1) Prediction of CAR T cell integration sites.
2) How is the 3D genome reorganized in T cells after activation?
3) Which transcription factors play key roles organizing the 3D chromatin architecture of T cells?
4) Exploiting natural genetic variations in multiple mouse strains to decipher transcription factor grammar in T cell development.
5) Novel tools to decipher transcription factor grammar from sequence and epigenomics data using machine learning.
6) What are the epigenetic mechanisms through which the transcription factor TCF-1 opens the chromatin in T cells? (PMID: 29466756)
7) Deciphering the contributions of genetics and epigenetics in type 1 diabetes development.
8) Can viruses change the 3D genome organization of infected host cells?
Preferred Qualifications
Prior experience with programming and statistics.
Details:
Preferred Student Year
Second-Year, Junior, Senior
Academic Term
Fall, Spring, Summer
I prefer to have students start during the above term(s).Volunteer
Yes
Yes indicates that faculty are open to volunteers.Paid
No
Yes indicates that faculty are open to paying students they engage in their research, regardless of their work-study eligibility.Work Study
Yes
Yes indicates that faculty are open to hiring work-study-eligible students.