Genetics
AREA OF FOCUS
Genetics
Genetics faculty in MGM are researching the genetic and epigenetic bases of disease in a broad range of areas including neurogenetics, development, regenerative medicine, cancer genetics, infectious organisms and immunity.
Within the Center for Neurogenetics (CNG), several MGM labs seek to understand neurological disorders.
The Swanson lab investigates the toxic mechanisms of short tandem repeat expansions in disease, the Ranum lab investigates repeat expansions in spinocerebellar ataxias and the toxic effects of RAN translation, the Fujii lab studies roles of translational regulation in development and the roles of translational errors in disease, and the Nguyen lab explores the contribution of short tandem repeat expansions in disease and seeks to identify therapeutic strategies. The Cohn lab takes an Evo-Devo approach to investigate mechanisms leading to birth defects with an emphasis on genitourinary disorders. The Scott lab seeks to harness regenerative medicine to improve wound healing. The Wallace lab seeks to understand genotype/phenotype correlations in neurofibromatosis while the Zhou lab uses Drosophila to understand innate immunity and apoptosis and their contributions to malignancies. The McIntyre lab also uses Drosophila to explore genetic variation and develops bioinformatic tools for harnessing “omics” style data. The Bloom, Renne, and Tibbetts labs utilize viral systems to probe mechanisms by which viral factors modulate host and virus gene regulation. MGM labs thus utilize a wide variety of approaches and model systems.
Come join us!
Our genetics group is always recruiting new students and postdocs to be a part of the team.
MGM Faculty Studying Genetics
David C Bloom, Ph.D.
Chair & Hazel Kitzman Professor of Genetics
Viral and neuron-specific factors that allow herpes simplex virus (HSV) to establish and maintain latency in neurons.
Martin J Cohn, Ph.D.
Professor
Molecular mechanisms of external genitalia and limb development in two contexts, structural birth defects and morphological evolution.
Kotaro Fujii, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Gene regulation focusing on mRNA translation in development and diseases, particularly those caused by protein aggregation such as neurodegenerative disorders.
Lauren M McIntyre, Ph.D.
Professor
Development of statistical and computational methods that elucidate links between gene expression and chromatin, and gene expression and organismal phenotype.
Lien Nguyen, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
My research group is interested in understanding the roles of repetitive elements or “genomic dark matter” in disease and health.
Laura P W Ranum, Ph.D.
Kitzman Family Professor Of Molecular Genetics And Microbiology; Director Center For NeuroGenetics
Fundamental mechanisms and developing therapies for repeat expansion disorders and other neurodegenerative diseases.
Rolf Renne, Ph.D.
Henry E. Innes Professor of Cancer Research; Associate Director for Basic Science, UF Health Cancer Center
How latent gamma-herpesvirus (particularly KSHV) gene products, including microRNAs and long noncoding RNAs, contribute to viral tumorigenesis of AIDS malignancies.
James L Resnick, Ph.D.
Professor
How parent-of-origin genetic identity contributes to disorders (Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS), Angelman syndrome (AS) and Dup15q syndrome) associated with a cluster of imprinted genes on chromosome 15.
Edward W Scott, Ph.D.
Professor & Director
We are attempting to elucidate factors required for lineage commitment during hematopoietic (blood cell) development. Of particular interest are transcription factors thought to influence lymphoid and myeloid differentiation.
Maurice S Swanson, Ph.D.
Professor; BMS PhD Program Concentration Director (Genetics)
Regulation of RNA processing, including roles of genomic repetitive elements in embryonic and postnatal development and expansion of short tandem repeats in neurological diseases.
Margaret Wallace, Ph.D.
Professor
Genetic and cell biology approaches to study neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), a common dominant tumor syndrome caused by mutations in the NF1 tumor suppressor gene.
Eric Wang, Ph.D.
Professor
Pathogenesis of microsatellite repeat diseases (eg, myotonic dystrophy), how RNA is processed and localized in cells in tissues, development of treatments for people with muscular dystrophy (DM) and other diseases.
Lizi Wu, Ph.D.
Professor; Program Leader, Mechanisms of Oncogenesis, UF Health Cancer Center
Deregulation of cell signaling in cancer, with the goal of gaining molecular insights into cancer pathogenesis and identifying novel cancer diagnostic and therapeutic targets.
Lei Zhou, Ph.D.
Professor; BMS PhD Program Concentration Director (Genetics)
Use of the fruit fly to unravel the complexity of innate immunity, including the innate immune response against arbovirus infections.