Overview
Our research uses computational and statistical modeling to understand the genetic and epigenetic bases of gene regulation in the context of several important systemic, infectious, and immune-related diseases. We work on bringing systematic and unbiased approaches to help develop and test specific hypotheses in human genetics, molecular biology, and immunology. We are particularly interested in the analysis and modeling of the 3D genome organization from high-throughput chromatin conformation capture data to understand how changes in this 3D structure affect outcomes such as development, differentiation, and disease progression. Our lab develops broadly used computational methods based in statistics, graph theory, data mining, and machine learning for the analysis of high-throughput data sets. We also have ongoing interests in systems-level analysis and reconstruction of regulatory networks, inference of enhancer-promoter contacts, predictive models of gene expression, analysis of single-cell data, as well as integrative, comparative, and high-resolution analysis of chromosomes conformation data such as Hi-C and HiChIP.
Featured publications
Identifying statistically significant chromatin contacts from Hi-C data with FitHiC2
Identification of copy number variations and translocations in cancer cells from Hi-C data
Lab Members
Ferhat Ay, Ph.D.
Associate Professor Institute Leadership Assoc. Prof. of Computational Biology, Center for Autoimmunity and Inflammation, Center for Cancer Immunotherapy, Center for Sex-based Differences in the Immune SystemFrom the lab
LJI scientists develop new method to match genes to their molecular ‘switches’
New research may help scientists hunt down solid tumors and better diagnose disease
No IKAROS, no antibodies
Researchers map the genome to figure out how a protein called IKAROS controls healthy B cell development
LJI kicks off partnership with San Diego’s Fleet Science Center
Fleet's Sharp Minds lecture series to feature immune system experts