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Postdoctoral Research Training Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA
Clinical Training Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA
The primary focus of our lab is to understand how changes in gene expression influence differentiation of stem cells. Alterations in this process are a key step in the development of leukemia. In particular, our laboratory focuses on how non-coding DNA elements act as “molecular switches” to causes changes in gene expression. We use different models to understand how non-coding DNA elements regulate which genes are on or off in a particular cell type, but one of our primary models is Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). We focus on AML because it has a poor long-term survival even with high dose chemotherapy, illustrating the need for more effective, less toxic therapies. In AML, approximately 15% of patients have mutations within genes encoding the cohesin complex, which plays a critical role in allowing non-coding DNA elements to regulate gene expression. In addition to AML, we also use mouse derived stem cells to ask fundamental questions about how non-coding DNA elements regulate gene expression. Most of our studies rely upon next-generation sequencing-based genome wide approaches, in addition to genomic editing to understand how non-coding DNA elements regulate stem cell differentiation.
Kirthi Pulakanti Bioinformatics Analyist
Quinn Furomo Bioinformatics Analyist
Alison Nickerson Research Scientist I
Cary Stelloh Research Technologist
Katelyn Heimbruch Graduate Student
Puja Agarwal Graduate Student
Kristin Zorn Clinical Fellow
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