Epigenetic Mechanisms in Health and Disease

Bing Ren Ph.D.

Head, Laboratory of Gene Regulation Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research
Professor
Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine
University of California - San Diego School of Medicine

Dr. Ren is currently Member of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR) and Professor of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. Since 2008, he has led the San Diego Epigenome Center, one of four NIH-sponsored Reference Epigenome Mapping Centers.  He obtained his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1998, where he studied mechanisms of transcriptional repression under the guidance of Dr. Tom Maniatis. From 1998 to 2001, he continued to research mechanisms of gene regulation and genomics as a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Richard Young's laboratory at Whitehead Institute.  During this period he pioneered the ChIP-chip analysis method.  When Dr. Ren began his faculty appointment, he combined the ChIP-chip with genome tiling arrays to investigate the mechanisms of gene regulation in human cells. His group is among the first to demonstrate the use of high-resolution genome tiling arrays for mapping cis-regulatory elements.  His recent works include generation of genome-wide maps of promoters, enhancers and potential insulators in human cells, and the discovery of distinct chromatin modification signatures for promoters and enhancers. 

Tentative Talk Title: “Epigenomic landscapes of pluripotent and lineage-committed human cells”