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Here you will find information about my research program and activites.  On the research side, we study the regulation of gene expression in the immune system.  The overall focus of this work is to elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which genes in the immune system are controlled in response to developmental and environmental stimuli. It is of course the environmental stimuli that we think about most when we consider infection and cancer.   A research statement can be found below.  

 

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

Overlying gene regulatory mechanisms is the local chromatin architecture that controls the accessibility of gene to specific transcription factors and the ability of transcription factors to interact over long distances. Our lab investigates the role of chromatin in the regulation of genes in the immune system. Experiments are designed to understand how transcription factors modify chromatin structure and how transcription factors interact over long distances to activate gene expression. In our model systems, we seek to elucidate the events that control major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC-II) genes and genes regulated by tumor necrosis factor. We employ animal, cellular, and molecular genetic approaches in our studies. Mice containing deleted regulatory elements are being created to develop in vivo model systems to interrogate gene assembly and chromatin modification questions. Through these studies we hope to develop higher order models of gene regulation, through which specific factors may be targeted for immune based therapies used in infectious disease, cancer, autoimmunity, and vaccination.