Cells of identical genetic background are capable of activating dramatically different transcriptional programs, leading to completely distinct cellular programs. Such regulation is largely determined by the cells’ distinct epigenetic states, encoded via chromatin regulators and histone marks. 

 

High throughput methods such as ChIP-seq and RNA-seq allow unbiased genome wide profiling of cellular states. These methods require many cells as an input material and thus blind to any cell to cell variation. Decoding a cellular program thus requires an ability to probe the epigenetic landscape at the single-cell resolution.

 

1. Our lab focuses on establishing and utilizing cutting edge single cell technologies to probe chromatin and transcriptional output at the single cell level.

2. Our lab integrates optimization of microfluidic devices, molecular and cellular biology and computational biology, to reveal how regulation at the epigenetic level is established, maintained and altered during development.

3. Our mission is to characterize chromatin mechanisms to better understand cellular processes in helath and disease.