I work as an Assistant Professor of Functional Genomics at the University of Minnesota College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resource Sciences in the Department of Animal Science School of Public Health. I have expertise in evolutionary genomics, molecular genetics, and bioinformatics with a specialization in environmental epigenetics in mice and mobile elements in primates. I am currently supported by a competitive K99 Grant through the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIH). My work focuses on three areas: 1) Developmental lead (Pb) exposure effects on the mouse epigenome over the lifespan, 2) Transposon epigenetics and the evolution of DNA methylation instability in mobile DNA, and 3) Discovery of human epialleles by novel application of next-generation massively parallel sequencing. Through these projects I am integrating the fields of epigenetics, evolution, transposon genetics, and environmental toxicology.
Before joining the University of Minnesota, I was a Postdoctoral Fellow working with Dr. Dana Dolinoy at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, in toxicological exposures and their epigenetic consequences.
I earned my PhD from Louisiana State University under the mentorship of Dr. Joomyeong Kim, where my dissertation was on the evolution of the YY1 family of DNA transcription factors and their activity as epigenetic regulators.
Contact: [email protected]
I use the following tools in my research:
- Computational
- Perl – General programming
- Linux – System Administration
- MySQL – Database
- R – Statistics
- Next-gen sequencing analysis pipeline generation
- Other tools and software can be found on the Resources page
- Molecular
- Cloning
- ChIP
- Sanger sequencing
- Next-gen sequencing
- Pyrosequencing
- Microdissection and Cryostat prep
- Antibody tissue staining