Chromatin & Transcription Regulation
Investigators in the Department of Cell Biology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine who are interested in chromatin and transcription regulation explore the fundamental processes regulating chromatin structure and transcriptional regulation and how these factors affect various aspects of development and disease.
Transcription, synthesis of RNA from a DNA template, is the first step in gene expression, the process by which phenotype emerges from genotype. Eukaryotic genomes are packaged with a set of proteins into chromatin, which governs access to the underlying DNA. Chromatin is modifiable in a locus-specific manner through alterations in protein composition (e.g., histone variants, linker histones, nucleosome-free regions), post-translational modifications (e.g., methylations, acetylations), and higher-order structure. Chromatin’s ability to regulate access to DNA intricately links it to transcriptional regulation by promoting or preventing access to transcription factors and machinery as well as enhancer-promoter communication.
Research Faculty
The Department of Cell Biology faculty below conduct research on chromatin and transcription regulation. If you are interested in collaborating on a research project, please contact the investigators directly for more information.
Julio A. Aguirre-Ghiso, Ph.D.
Professor, Departments of Cell Biology, Medicine, and Oncology; Rose C. Falkenstein Chair in Cancer Research
Specific research topics: aging, cancer dormancy and metastasis, cancer microenvironment, cell death and senescence, imaging, single cell analysis, and stem cells
Leonard H. Augenlicht, Ph.D.
Professor, Departments of Cell Biology, Medicine, and Oncology
Specific research topics: aging, cancer genetics, cellular metabolism, chromatin biology/gene
regulation, development, drug development and experimental therapeutics, mitochondria biology, single cell analysis, and stem cells
Eric E. Bouhassira, Ph.D.
Professor, Departments of Cell Biology, Medicine, and Oncology; Ingeborg and Ira Leon Rennert Professor of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine
Specific research topics: cell-based- and gene-therapy, chromatin biology/gene regulation, DNA replication and repair, erythropoiesis, hematopoiesis, iPSC (induced pluripotent stem cells), and stem cells
Robert A. Coleman, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Cell Biology
Specific research topics: cancer genetics, chromatin biology/gene regulation, DNA replication and repair, drug development and experimental therapeutics, hematopoiesis, imaging, proteomics and protein biochemistry, single cell analysis, and stem cells
Dmitry Fyodorov, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Cell Biology
Specific research topics: chromatin biology/gene regulation, development, DNA replication and repair, proteomics and protein biochemistry, RNA processing/splicing/modification
Matthew J. Gamble, Ph.D.
Professor, Departments of Cell Biology and Molecular Pharmacology; Assistant Director, Medical Scientist Training Program
Specific research topics: cell death and senescence, chromatin biology/gene regulation, DNA replication and repair, and RNA processing/splicing/modification
Wenjun Guo, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Cell Biology
Specific research topics: cancer dormancy and metastasis, cancer genetics, cancer microenvironment, cellular metabolism, chromatin biology/gene regulation, development, immunology, signal transduction, single cell analysis, and stem cells
Keisuke Ito, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor, Departments of Cell Biology, Medicine, and Oncology (Medical Oncology); Director, Scientific Resources, The Ruth L. and David S. Gottesman Institute for Stem Cell Research and Regenerative Medicine
Specific research topics: aging, cancer dormancy and metastasis, cancer genetics, cancer microenvironment, cell-based and gene therapy, cellular metabolism, development, drug development and experimental therapeutics, erythropoiesis, hematopoiesis, imaging, mitochondria biology, proteomics and protein biochemistry, single cell analysis, and stem cells
Lindsay M. LaFave, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Cell Biology; Rubenstein Family Early Career Professorship in Environmental Determinants and Disease
Specific research topics: cancer dormancy and metastasis, cancer genetics, cancer microenvironment, chromatin biology/gene regulation, development, imaging, single cell analysis, and stem cells
U. Thomas Meier, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Cell Biology
Specific research topics: aging, imaging, proteomics and protein biochemistry, and RNA processing/splicing/modification
Satish K. Nandakumar, M.B., B.S., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Cell Biology
Specific research topics: aging, cancer genetics, cell-based and gene therapy, chromatin biology/gene regulation, DNA replication and repair, hematopoiesis, signal transduction, single cell analysis, and stem cells
Charles C. Query, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Cell Biology
Specific research topics: aging, cancer genetics, cell-based and gene therapy, chromatin biology/gene regulation, DNA replication and repair, hematopoiesis, signal transduction, single cell analysis, and stem cells
Alexandra C. Racanelli, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Departments of Cell Biology and Medicine
Specific research topics: aging, cancer genetics, cellular metabolism, chromatin biology/gene regulation, development, drug development and experimental therapeutics, mitochondria biology, single cell analysis, and stem cells
Rebeca San Martin, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Departments of Cell Biology and Oncology
Specific research topics: aging, cancer dormancy and metastasis, cancer microenvironment, chromatin biology/gene regulation, imaging, and stem cells
Matthew D. Scharff, M.D.
Distinguished University Professor Emeritus, Departments of Cell Biology and Medicine; Faculty Supervisor, Hybridoma Facility
Specific research topics: chromatin biology/gene regulation, development, DNA replication and repair, immunology, and proteomics and protein biochemistry
Carl L. Schildkraut, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Cell Biology
Specific research topics: aging, chromatin biology/gene regulation, development, DNA replication and repair, and imaging
Robert H. Singer, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Cell Biology and Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience; Harold and Muriel Block Chair in Anatomy & Structural Biology
Specific research topics: chromatin biology/gene regulation, imaging, RNA processing/splicing/modification, single cell analysis
Arthur I. Skoultchi, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Cell Biology; Judith and Burton P. Resnick Chair in Cell Biology
Specific research topics: chromatin biology/gene regulation, development, erythropoiesis, hematopoiesis, RNA processing/splicing/modification, and stem cells
Pamela Stanley, Ph.D.
Professor Emerita, Department of Cell Biology
Specific research topics: cancer genetics, development, drug development and experimental therapeutics, glycobiology/glycomics, hematopoiesis, immunology, membrane trafficking, proteomics and protein biochemistry, signal transduction, and stem cells
Ulrich G. Steidl, M.D., Ph.D.
Chair and Professor, Department of Cell Biology; Professor, Departments of Medicine and Oncology; Deputy Director, Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center
Specific research topics: aging, cancer genetics, cancer microenvironment, chromatin biology/gene regulation, drug development and experimental therapeutics, glycobiology/glycomics, hematopoiesis, imaging, immunology, signal transduction, single cell analysis, and stem cells
Kristy R. Stengel, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Cell Biology; Melissa S. and John V. Ceriale Early Career Professorship
Specific research topics: cancer genetics, chromatin biology/gene regulation, hematopoiesis, and stem cells
Britta Will, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Departments of Cell Biology, Medicine, and Oncology; Ruth L. and David S. Gottesman Chair in Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Research
Specific research topics: aging, cancer genetics, cellular metabolism, chromatin biology/gene regulation, hematopoiesis, single cell analysis, and stem cells
B. Hilda Ye, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Cell Biology
Specific research topics: cancer genetics, cancer microenvironment, drug development and experimental therapeutics, immunology, signal transduction, single cell analysis, and stem cells.