Epigenetics

Researchers studying epigenetics and epigenomics explore the mechanisms that regulate gene expression.

The Epigenetics Working Group unites multiple research teams using different conceptual frameworks and experimental approaches to study epigenetic mechanisms regulating development and aging. Using a wide range of experimental systems, research teams are aiming to uncover how exposure to developmental and environmental stress leads to the accumulation of genome-wide epigenetic changes and whether these changes can eventually cause or exacerbate development of aging-associated diseases such as cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, and cardiovascular diseases.

As a group, we are targeting molecular mechanisms of local and reversible genome-wide reprogramming, cellular heritability of epigenetic changes, and the fine-tuning of local gene activity that can be recruited for clinical applications. Understanding how chromatin proteins act during normal development and during pathogenesis to shape the chromatin landscape will allow us to develop methods to experimentally re-program genes and gene networks and to design new therapeutic regimens for treating human disorders.

Announcements

11-03-2020
Congratulations to Drs. Archana Dhasarathy and Motoki Takaku for their NIH CTR-DACCOTA Pilot award titled “Phenotypic and Epigenomic Impact of SARS- Cov-2 (Covid-19) Nucleocapsid Protein in Breast Cancer.” 

8-31-2020
Congratulations to Dr. Motoki Takaku for his NIH supplement grant award titled “Mechanisms of Tumor Suppressor Function of Progesterone Receptor in Breast Cancer.”

07-01-2020
Congratulations to Dr. Archana Dhasarathy, Co-team Lead in Cellular Systems, for her NSF- ND-EPSCOR RII Track-1 award titled “ND-ACES: New Discoveries in the Advanced Interface of Computation, Engineering, and Science.”

05-01-2020
Congratulations to Drs. Archana Dhasarathy and Catherine Brissette for their DoD grant titled “Epigenetic and Transcriptional Memory Mechanisms in Lyme Arthritis."

Congratulations to Dr. Catherine Brissette on her recent R21 grant titled “Borrelia miyamotoi meningoencephalitis.”

Congratulations also to Dr. Manu on his recent NSF CAREER award titled “CAREER: Non-additive control of gene expression by long-range interactions between multiple regulatory elements.”

In July 2019, COBRE Phase II has been awarded! Good Job everyone involved in the renewal!

Congratulations to Dr. Sergei Nechaev for receiving a five-year NSF CAREER award worth $1.25 million for a project entitled “CAREER: Organization of Global Transcriptomes by Stepwise control of POL II activity at gene promoters.” 

Congratulations to Atrayee Bhattacharya (Dhasarathy Lab) for the Faculty for Students Scholarships from UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences (SMHS).

Congratulations to Atrayee Bhattacharya (Dhasarathy Lab) and Sayantani Ghosh-Dastidar (Nechaev Lab) for their ND-EPSCoR Doctoral Dissertation Awards!

Kole Hermanson (undergraduate Student co-mentored by Archana Dhasarathy and Diane Darland) was awarded the Arts & Sciences Undergraduate Research/Creative Activity Award. 

Congratulations to the winners of the Epigenetics pilot projects!

• • Holly Brown-Borg: Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor in Biomedical Sciences

  • Junguk Hur and Jim Porter: Assistant and Associate Professors in Biomedical Sciences

  • Barry Milavetz: Professor in Biomedical Science

  • Turk Rhen: Professor in Biology

  • William Sheridan: Professor in Biology

Congratulations to Dr. Catherine Brissette for her R21 award entitled: "MicroRNAs Induced in Response to Borrelia Burgdorferi."

Congratulations to Dr. Sumali Pandey, a post-doctoral fellow/research specialist in the Ohm lab for receiving a $19,500 pilot grant from the Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (UMASH) to study epigenomic remodeling associated marks in bronchial epithelium upon exposure to Aspergillus fumigatus spores.

Congratulations to Drs. Roxanne Vaughan, Joyce Ohm, Sergei Nechaev, Lucia Carvelli, Cindy Anderson and Archana Dhasarathy for their $10.5 million COBRE award!

Congratulations to Dr. Joyce Ohm for receiving her first NIH R01 grant for a total of $1,552,500; titled "Environmental Toxins and Stem Cell Epigenetic Remodeling". Other UND investigators who will collaborate with Dr. Ohm on this grant are Drs. Kurt Zhang, Brij Singh and John Watt.