Marlies Oomen, Ph.D.
| Assistant Professor |  |
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| Ph.D.: 2021, UMass Chan Medical School and Erasmus University Rotterdam (The Netherlands) | ||
| Postdoctoral research: Helmholtz Munich (Germany) | ||
| Office: | UMass Chan Medical School 364 Plantation Street, LRB-611 Worcester, MA 01605 |
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| Email: | Marlies.Oomen@umassmed.edu | |
Research
My research program investigates the mechanisms of genome regulation of and by transposable elements (TEs) from an evolutionary perspective. Using mammalian stem cells and differentiation models, we explore how these once-selfish elements have been co-opted by their hosts for transcriptional and epigenetic regulation, and what happens when this regulation becomes miswired. TEs are increasingly recognized as drivers of genomic regulation in development, but are also associated with misregulation in diseases such as cancer.
In particular, we study the interplay between TE sequences, the epigenome, and their genomic context, combining computational approaches to trace TE evolutionary trajectories across mammalian genomes with genomic and transcriptomic wet lab experiments to test their regulatory capacity. Ultimately, we aim to understand how TEs shape genome regulation, stability, and integrity in development and disease.