Helen Wang

Program: Molecular Genetics and Genomics

Current advisor: Jeffrey Magee, MD, PhD

Undergraduate university: Mount Holyoke College

Research summary
This past summer I worked in the lab of Dr. Jeffrey Magee where we study the differences between childhood and adult leukemias. Childhood leukemias have distinct driver mutation profiles compared to adult leukemias and may arise from distinct cells of origin. The putative relationship between hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell (HSPC) ontogeny and childhood leukemia underscores the importance of studying the temporal changes in HSPC gene expression at a mechanistic level. Our group has recently established that hematopoietic stem cells transition gradually and stochastically from fetal to adult transcriptional states. While some transcription factors are more enriched in adult enhancers, there are master transcription factors, such as PU.1 and RUNX, that are enriched in both fetal and adult enhancers. This raises the question of whether the master transcription factor binding at various enhancers show age specificity. My project uses orthogonal approaches of Cut-and-Tag and Calling Cards to identify the interactions between transcription factors and enhancers in fetal, neonatal, and adult HSPCs.

Graduate publications