Large-scale studies have identified thousands of genetic variants, particularly in non-coding regions, that are associated with various traits and disease risks.
Exploring how these genetic variants influence regulatory elements such as enhancers, promoters, and silencers. These elements play a crucial role in controlling when and where genes are expressed.
Mapping the intricate connections between these regulatory elements and their target genes.
Effector genes, which are directly influenced by changes in regulatory elements, are responsible for executing essential cellular functions.
Investigating the cellular contexts in which these effector genes operate, pinpointing the specific cell types and physiological states that are impacted by genetic variants.
Examining how genetic variants and their downstream effects translate into observable traits, such as susceptibility to diseases, responses to drugs, aging processes, and metabolic characteristics. Our goal is to draw a comprehensive map from genetic variants to phenotypic outcomes, providing a thorough understanding of how genetic differences influence health.
Genetics
Epigenetics
All somatic cells in an organism possess the same genome, yet their morphology, functions, and differentiation pathways are strikingly different. Somatic cells maintain tissue function and adapt to the ever-changing environment by differentiating into new cell types or altering their functional states. These cellular dynamics are mediated by changes in the epigenome, which reorganizes DNA regulation to turn on or turn off gene expression.
Moreover, many patients experience disease onset or recurrence without changes in driver mutations and exhibit varying sensitivities to treatments. This is largely due to epigenome reorganization, where non-genetic factors play a significant role in the disease process. These non-genetic factors, or epigenetic modifications, influence our cells by altering the manner and timing of gene expression, and are also implicated in the aging process.
Our laboratory focuses on understanding how gene regulation and cell fate decisions are influenced by epigenetic changes. By employing cutting-edge functional genomics techniques to study gene regulation and the chromatin organization of the genome, we investigate how these epigenetic and 3D genome alterations contribute to disease progression and influence therapeutic responses.
We are also interested in elucidating how these epigenetic and 3D genome changes, occurring during aging, accelerate the onset of diseases.