Genetic studies have identified hundreds of DNA variants associated with autoimmune disease, many of which fall in non-coding regulatory regions of the genome. The most common autoimmune diseases are polygenic and variation in the expression of multiple genes confers risk. Our lab aims to understand the cellular changes that drive autoimmunity, with particular interest in the effects of combinations of variants. Using genomics and epigenetics, we pursue the pathways that initiate disease and opportunities to prevent dysfunction.
Multimeric protein assemblies make up the majority of molecular machinery that controls cellular activity. Many proteins that regulate essential T cell functions are components of larger protein complexes, which has complicated our ability to fully understand their function and how to modulate their behavior. Using precise genome editing, we seek to pinpoint specific protein residues that enable regulatory control and identify opportunities to strategically modulate cell behavior for cancer and autoimmune disease therapy design.
Umhoefer JM, Arce MM, Dajani R, Whalen S, Goudy L, Kasinathan S, Belk JA, Zhang W, Zhou R, Subramanya S, Hernandez R, Tran C, Kirthivasan N, Freimer JW, Mowery CT, Nguyen V, Ota M, Gowen BG, Simeonov DR, Curie GL, Corn JE, Chang HY, Gilbert LA, Satpathy AT, Pollard KS, Marson A
Arce MM, Umhoefer JM, Arang N, Kasinathan S, Freimer JW, Steinhart Z, Shen H, Ota M, Wadhera A, Pham MTN, Dajani R, Dorovskyi D, Chen YY, Liu Q, Shy BR, Carnevale J, Satpathy AT, Krogan NJ, Pritchard JK, Marson A
Weinstock JS, Arce MM, Freimer JW, Ota M, Marson A, Battle A, Pritchard JK
Maya earned her Ph.D. at the University of California San Francisco, under the supervision of Dr. Alexander Marson. During this time, she investigated cell type and activation state specific transcriptional regulators required for control of specific T cell attributes. Her work established context specific gene regulatory maps and provided new mechanistic insights into the systems that enable dynamic regulation of human immune gene programs. At Arc, Maya will focus on understanding the early changes in cellular behavior that drive immune mediated disease. Her lab will utilize genomics, epigenetics, and genome editing to interrogate the regulatory pathways and protein complexes that control immune cell behavior in an effort to inform therapeutic design for autoimmunity and cancer.
UC Irvine (MS)
RV College of Engineering (BE)
