Cellular and Molecular Biology Graduate Program
Genome Center/ Biotechnology Center
Faculty Advisor: David C. Schwartz
Resume
My research is focused on analysis of epigenetic modifications on a genome-wide scale. Chromatin is known to play key roles in both long-term gene and chromosomal silencing (heterochromatin) as well as dynamic transcriptional regulation in a number of biological processes (euchromatin). My aims include the development of an assay to examine in vivo chromatin structure of whole genomes. Chemical and enzymatic methods will be used to probe chromatin structure on a genome-wide basis, and high molecular weight DNA will be isolated, mounted and indexed for Optical Mapping (a system developed in the Laboratory of Molecular and Computational Genomics for genomic analysis on a single molecule basis). Initial studies will focus on assaying chromatin association states at several well-known loci – both active and repressed – in the context of a whole-genome analysis performed on a single molecule basis.
