We aim to unveil the underlying epigenetic mechanisms of diverse human diseases including repeat expansion diseases (e.g., Fragile X syndrome, Huntington’s, Myotonic Dystrophy, Friedreich’s Ataxia, and ALS) and cancer.

By studying molecular mechanisms of repeat-mediated human diseases, we will address three major questions:

1. What causes genome instability that leads to repeat expansion in Human diseases?

2. How do these expanded repeats contribute to the disease phenotype by inducing epigenetic changes?

3. How can we remove the root cause by preventing repeat expansion and/or inducing contraction? 

4. By answering these questions, we can develop novel therapeutic approaches for tackling the root causes of diseases involving repeat instability and better understand how our genome integrity is maintained.