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Zhijie "Jason" Liu, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research

Currently seeking M.S. & Ph.D. students

Different signals, including hormones, inflammatory cytokines and metabolic signals, work in a collaborative way to regulate context-specific gene programs in normal growth and disease conditions. However many questions are still open: How do these different signals crosstalk with each other for a specific gene expression program? How do signals affect the composition and organization of transcriptional machinery including transcription factors and their cofactors? How are epigenetic alterations and chromatin 3D architectural changes achieved in response to signals?

Dr. Jason Liu’s research is to understand how signal-dependent gene programs are regulated in cell differentiation/dedifferentiation and in the development of cancer and other diseases. Currently, his lab is combining biochemical, cellular, and animal model-related studies with different NGS-based assays to work on the following projects to understand gene regulation mechanisms and find their connection to clinical applications:

(1) Explore the roles and regulation mechanisms of signaling-dependent gene regulation programs in normal development and disease conditions, and study how context-specific gene programs are regulated by the crosstalk of different signaling pathways.

(2) Decipher the epigenetic and 3D architectural changes of the cis-regulatory elements upon developmental/pathological stimuli and during hormone/drug resistance acquisition in cancers.

(3) Based on our understanding of gene regulation mechanisms, identify diagnostic/prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for multiple human cancer types.

(4) Develop drugs and therapeutics for pre-clinical studies and potential clinical applications.