Research Interests:
The major focus of my lab is to understand the impact of RNA processing and regulation in human normal and cancer stem cell biology and neural differentiation. Human embryonic stem cells is used by my lab as a system for unraveling aspects of stem cell state, such as survival, self-renewal and differentiation, results of which have far-reaching implications to our understanding of human development and neurodegenerative diseases. Three major developments this past five years have led us into new eras in biological and medical research. Firstly, the completion of multiple individual human and mammalian genomes, coupled with the availability of technology that generates an unprecedented amount of high-resolution biological data have transformed modern biology to an information-rich science. Secondly, the regulation of gene expression has proven to be far more complex than anticipated, involving epigenetic changes, alternative splicing (AS) and small RNA modulation. Finally, rapid progress in human stem cell biology, especially in induced pluripotency stem cells and neuronal differentiation, is enabling human (neurodegenerative) diseases to be modeled effectively and eventually treated in the near future. Research in my group has focused on the intersection of these three fields: computational biology and high-throughput genomics methodology, regulation by alternative splicing (AS) and small RNAs, and stem cell biology and disease modeling. In particular,
(i) RNA processing in basic stem cell biology. Deciphering the intrinsic and extrinsic signals that control and are important for stem cell proliferation, survival and differentiation is not only important for medical research, but will also improve our understanding of basic developmental biology. We currently focus on the impact of RNA binding proteins and small RNAs during stem cell differentiation.
(ii) Human disease modeling in induced/embryonic pluripotent stem cells. Understanding the molecular pathways by which IPSC/hESC transform into NPs and mature neurons are vital in developing realistic disease models for human neurodegenerative disorders such as ALS, Alzheimer�s and Parkinson�s. We will focus on several RNA binding proteins involved in neurodegenerative diseases.
(iii) Development of computational and molecular tools. Vast amounts of binding and splicing-sensitive transcriptome data will become readily available. Statistical learning theory and generative models will be necessary for making sense of the data. We will continue to develop our expertise in this area. In addition we are developing new molecular capture techniques coupled with high-throughput sequencing for various RNA-related applications.
Track(s):
MCB
Genetics
BMS Focus Areas:
Bioinformatics
Cancer Biology
Neurobiology
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