What is your role on the AEpiA Committee?

As one of the AEpiA early career representatives, I aim to help connect early career researchers to find useful resources and networks. 

Briefly,  tell us about your research.

My area of research is “Integrating multiple epigenetic assays”.

The epigenetic landscape is made up of multiple regulatory mechanisms that interact dynamically with each other. To fully understand how epigenetic regulators affect cellular function, we need to build a clear picture of all these systems simultaneously.

While we have methods for investigating epigenetic systems such as methylation, histone modifications and chromatin structure, these methods are generally conducted on related samples in parallel and correlated afterwards, losing much of the fine detail of interactions.My research aims to develop ways to use these techniques in sequence on the same sample, allowing us to study multiple epigenetic markers on the same strand of DNA. This will let us see a more detailed picture of how parts of the epigenetic landscape interact with each other.

What advice would you give your undergrad self?

Don’t try to do everything on your own. Science is an inherently collaborative endeavour and the people around you are generally happy to share their expertise.

Asking for help before the last minute will save you time and energy in the long run.