Research Interest Group Updates
Environmental Epigenetics and Genetics Research Interest Group has two speakers scheduled for Fall Semester. Qi Chen, Assistant Professor, University of California Riverside, on August 30 at 1:30 pm and Suzanne Martos, Postdoctoral Fellow at NIEHS on November 16 at 4 pm.
Dr Chen studies non-genetic modes of inheritance and their significance for environmentally-induced disease. In 2016, Dr Chen published a landmark study in Science describing a novel mechanism of inheritance, specifically the transmission of tRNA fragments through the paternal germline. His work demonstrated that paternal environmental stress could alter tRNA fragment populations in sperm, and that these are responsible for causing metabolic disease in offspring. Dr Chen's subsequent work has provided more insights into this and other mechanisms of inheritance.
Dr. Suzanne Martos is the 2020 recipient of the Best Postdoctoral Publication Award from the Society of Toxicology, for her manuscript published in Cell Reports Medicine on the effects of tobacco smoke on the human immune system. In this paper, Dr Martos describes the use of single cell RNA-sequencing to identify a subpopulation of natural killer-like cells that is increased in smokers. Her work also demonstrates that smoking is associated with increased epigenetic aging and immune dysfunction.
Look for other RIG updates next month!