Principal Investigator
HUNGOO LEE
Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (from Sep. 2024)
He has been studying molecular mechanisms of epigenetic abnormalities by the expanded long tandem repeats in Fragile X syndrome. During his Postdoc in Dr. Jeannie Lee’s lab at Harvard Medical School, he identified the molecular mechanisms that can induce the shortening of the pathogenic long tandem repeats in Fragile X patient cells. Before his postdoc, he earned his Ph.D. in epigenetics and molecular biology in the laboratory of Dr. Vincenzo Pirrotta, where his dissertation work focused on the genome-wide epigenetic regulatory roles of Polycomb group proteins and Trithorax group proteins especially at the intergenic regions. Before his Ph.D., he worked as a computational biologist at Dong-a Seetech IT company and studied a condition-specific transcriptional regulatory network in yeast. By combining his diverse background in computational biology, epigenetics, and molecular biology, he plans to tackle the diverse repeat expansion diseases including Huntington's, Myotonic Dystrophy, Friedreich's ataxia, ALS, and other autism spectrum disorders by understanding why the patients show increased repeat instability.
Contact: hlee308 at jh dot edu
Miller Research Building Room 449
RUOYAN PU
Research Technologist
M.Sc. Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University
B.S. Neuroscience, Simmons University
She is interested in the epigenetic changes associated with neurological disorders, including Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Her research also focuses on the use of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), and explores their applications in disease modeling. Previously, she investigated the correlation between COVID-19 infection and Alzheimer’s disease pathology using the iPSC model. She joined H. Lee lab to study repeat expansion disorders (REDs) and explore potential therapeutic methods for these diseases.
SHREYAN URHEKAR
Research Assistant
M.Sc. Biotechnology, Johns Hopkins University
Bachelor of Technology in Biotechnology, D. Y. Patil University
He is interested in understanding the molecular basis of CGG repeat expansion disorders, particularly in fragile X syndrome, by applying a diverse combination of technologies from immunology, biophysical characterization, and iPSCs. Previously, he worked on biophysical characterizations of proteins in the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway and studied the molecular dynamics of pioneer factors in histone methylation patterns. He joined the H. Lee lab to further explore repeat expansion disorders (REDs) and contribute to developing potential therapeutic strategies