Yu Lab
THE YU LAB
Children's National Research & Innovation Campus
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Home ItemJia-Ray Yu, Ph.D. , home
Assistant Professor
Led by principal investigator Jia-Ray Yu, Ph.D., the Yu Laboratory studies the regulations of gene expression at the chromatin level. As chromatin is a highly compartmentalized structure, the temporo-spatial regulations of the chromatin-associated factors are crucial for their collective functions in shaping the epigenome. These natural principles are, however, often dysregulated in human diseases such as congenital developmental syndromes and a variety types of cancer.
The lab probes these questions by integrating comprehensive research tools in chromatin biochemistry, reconstituted systems, deep-sequencing, molecular and cell biology, and cancer biology. The current focuses in lab include the following directions: 1) functional regulation of chromatin modifying enzymes by novel protein-RNA and protein-protein interactions; 2) how disruption of balancing between heterochromatin and euchromatin contributes to early oncogenesis in pediatric brain cancers; and 3) non-histone targets of histone-modifying enzymes.
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Bio ItemAastha Dave , bio
Research Assistant
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Bio ItemChen-I Hsu , bio
Graduate Student, Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine
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Bio ItemSarah Ruttenberg, Ph.D. , bio
Postdoctoral Associate
Aastha received her M.S. in translational biotechnology from the University of Southern California in 2021. Prior to her current position, she worked at Vaxcyte, San Carlos, CA. Her role was to perform DoE in downstream process development of carrier protein of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine candidate. She joined the Yu Lab to investigate temporo-spatial epigenetic regulation leveraging the dTAG protein degradation system.
Chen-I received his M.S. from National Cheng-Kung University, where he studied disease mechanisms of polycystic ovary syndrome. As a Ph.D. student, he is interested in understanding how euchromatin is established in the context of development and cancer.
Sarah received her Ph.D. in chemical biology from the University of California, Irvine in 2024. During her doctoral research, Sarah studied the role of beta-hairpins in amyloid-beta oligomerization and toxicity using peptide model systems and human iPSC-derived neurons. As a postdoctoral fellow, Sarah is investigating mechanisms of chromatin imbalance and their role in neurodevelopmental disorders.
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Bio ItemMahnue Sahn , bio
Research Assistant
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Bio ItemAnamika Singh , bio
Research Associate
Mahnue received her B.S. in Biomolecular Sciences from Central Connecticut State University in 2022 and has recently completed a 2-year Postbac program at NIH. She is currently leveraging CRISPR/Cas9 technology to interrogate the interplay between nuclear organelles and chromatin-modifying enzymes.
Anamika received her Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee. Prior to joining Yu lab as a research associate, she conducted her postdoctoral trainings in Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel and Oregon State University. Her expertise includes in vitro biochemistry and assay development. In the Yu Lab, she is currently investigating the role of SPIN4 in epigenetic regulation in collaboration with Dr. Youn Hee Jee (Children’s National) and PRC2 non-histone substrates..
Collaborators
Wei Li, Ph.D., Assistant Professor and Principal Investigator, Center for Genetic Medicine Research, Children's National Research and Innovation
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Article Item‘We have a very rich resource here’ , article Date: Jun 20, 2023 -
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Article ItemNew cancer biologist targets ‘Achilles heel’ in deadly brain cancers , article Date: Sep 27, 2022 -
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Article ItemRare disease research gives families hope, ‘vital’ to advancing medicine , article Date: Feb 28, 2022 -
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