Biomedical Graduate Studies

Description of Research Expertise

Chronobiology
Pancreatic islet development
Regenerative medicine
Gene & chromatin regulation

Keywords: circadian biology, stem cell-derived organoids, lineage development, cell maturation, pancreatic islets, single-cell omics, regenerative medicine, gene regulation, epigenetics, non-coding RNA

Research Description
Our laboratory investigates how biological rhythms shape the functional maturation of differentiated cells. We use genetic and engineering tools to chart, navigate, and control how cell molecular and functional states synchronize and evolve during maturation, leveraging mice and human organoid models. Our goal is to understand how circadian and metabolic cycles regulate cell maturity, and to engineer multimodal approaches to sense and control cell rhythms, which we use to make fully functional pancreatic islet organoids for diabetes research and regenerative medicine.

Our work addresses three fundamental questions:
1. How do cells and tissues become functionally specialized?
2. How does organ-level physiology entrain to circadian rhythms?
3. How do circadian disturbances lead to organ and systemic metabolic dysfunction?

To this end, we employ single-cell transcriptomic, epigenomic, proteomic methods and genetic, nanoelectronics-based approaches to study and control islet cell fate. We are especially interested in advancing replacement therapies for insulin-dependent diabetes, and harnessing control over the function and applications of any human organoid.

Rotation Projects
1. Organoid maturation by daily metabolic entrainment
2. Circadian rhythm development across body tissues
3. Gene, chromatin, and translation circuits governing Beta-cell maturity
4. Design principles governing islet function and connectivity
5. Charting human islet maturation via combined soft nanoelectronics and single-cell spatial transcriptomics