WashU Medicine Genetics

Department of Genetics at Washington University School of Medicine

Hiring faculty&postdocs:

[Tychele Turner @tycheleturner]

Excited to share a new paper on sex-aware genome-wide assessment of de novo variants (DNVs) in autism. Analyzed >41,000 parent-child trios using newly developed tools (HAT-FLEX and SNOW) to generate a high-confidence DNV callset across autosomes, X, Y, and PAR regions. Find support for the female protective effect, identify sex-specific patterns of coding DNV enrichment, and implicate the noncoding RNA gene RNU2-2 in ASD risk. The complete DNV callset and extensive supplementary analyses are available in the Supplement to the paper.
Paper: https://t.co/l8Kqv0YCPN
#genomics #genetics #denovo #autism @WashUGenetics

[Sheng Chih Jin @PETERJIN999]

Had a great time presenting our #TandemRepeat research in #PeripheralNeuropathy at the @MerkinPnnrCtr today. Extra special because @JohnsHopkins is my alma mater! Thanks so much to @DrAhmetHoke for the invitation and hospitality. @WashUGenetics

[WashU Medicine Genetics @WashUGenetics]

Congrats to Frederick Arnold, PhD and colleagues on receiving the Longitude Prize on ALS Discovery Award @longitude_prize! The team will use AI to map how genes interact in ALS using integrated patient biological data.
https://t.co/htg6UDO4Wc

[WashU Medicine Genetics @WashUGenetics]

Join @WashUGenetics Thursday May. 28 at Noon in Connor Auditorium when Yin Cao, ScM, MPh @yincaoScD presents, “Early-Onset Cancers: Grand Challenges in Discovery and Prevention”, hosted by Ting Wang, PhD @twang5 .

[WashU Medicine Genetics @WashUGenetics]

@WashUGenetics was honored to host the 28th Shreffler Lecture yesterday, featuring Connie Cepko, PhD, of Harvard Medical School. Dr. Cepko delivered an engaging talk sharing insights from her research on how retinal cells develop, function, and degenerate!

[WashU Medicine Genetics @WashUGenetics]

Congratulations to Holly Godin, PhD on receiving the 2026 W. M. Keck Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biomedical Research!

[WashU Office of Postdoctoral Affairs @WashUOPA]

Congratulations to Dr. Changxu Fan, Dr. Holly Godin, and Dr. Quentin Meslier, recipients of the 2026 W. M. Keck Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biomedical Research! 👏

#WashUPostdocs #WashUOPA #ResearchExcellence #LeadershipExcellence #MentorshipExcellence #STL #StLouisMO

[WashU Medicine Genetics @WashUGenetics]

Join the 28th Annual Donald C. Shreffler Memorial Lecture @WashUGenetics Tuesday May. 19 at 4pm in Connor Auditorium when Connie Cepko, PhD presents, “How does the retina make so many cell types?”, hosted by Ting Wang, PhD @twang5 .

[Aki Ushiki @AkiUshiki]

I am honored to receive the 2026 Center of Regenerative Medicine Senior Innovator Award and seed grant to study injury-responsive enhancers.
I am very grateful for the support and excited to move this project forward! @wustlcrm @WashUGenetics
https://t.co/OU5wXzH7Ve

[WashU Medicine Genetics @WashUGenetics]

Join @WashUGenetics Thursday May. 7 at Noon in Moore Auditorium when Andre Sousa, PhD presents, “Multimodal analyses of prefrontal cortical development, evolution, and disease”, hosted by Joe Dougherty, PhD.

[WashU Medicine Genetics @WashUGenetics]

Join @WashUGenetics Thursday April. 30 at Noon in Holden Auditorium when Rong Fan, PhD presents, “Seeing RNA Biology in Action in Human Tissue Development and Disease”, hosted by Yidan Sun, PhD.

[WashU Medicine Genetics @WashUGenetics]

Join @WashUGenetics next Thursday April. 23 at Noon in Connor Auditorium when Lu Bai, PhD presents, “Mechanism of Nucleosome Invasion and Chromatin Accessibility”, hosted by Michael Meers, PhD @mpmeers

[Sheng Chih Jin @PETERJIN999]

Excited to share our paper in Ann Neurol @ANA_journals on homozygous RFC1 AAGGG repeat expansions in idiopathic peripheral neuropathy. Congrats @Chloe12079819 @sinem_ovunc_MD, @realToddLab @DrAhmetHoke @WashUGenetics @Umich @MerkinPnnrCtr

https://t.co/YQCRth3MIk

[WashU Medicine Genetics @WashUGenetics]

Join @WashUGenetics next Thursday April. 16 at Noon in Connor Auditorium when Elizabeth Pollina, PhD @pollinalab presents, “Dynamic Genome Control Mechanisms in Nervous System Longevity”, hosted by Drs. Lijuan Feng and @GaborEgervari

[WashU Medicine Genetics @WashUGenetics]

Turan Tufan, PhD @trn_tfn, postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Ting Wang's @twang5 lab has been awarded prestigious Helen Hay Whitney Fellowship. Congrats! https://t.co/toKSUa5IGZ

[WashU Medicine Genetics @WashUGenetics]

Join @WashUGenetics this Thursday April. 9 at Noon in Moore Auditorium when Qiang Chang, PhD presents, “MeCP2, Astrocytes, Rett syndrome, and Beyond”, hosted by Guoyan Zhao, PhD @gzhao11 !

[WashU Medicine Genetics @WashUGenetics]

Congrats to Dr. Michael Province on being named a 2026 Dean’s Impact Award recipient! His leadership of the Long Life Family Study and decades of groundbreaking genetics research have shaped our understanding of longevity and advanced science globally.
https://t.co/PMtU6QCkWf

[Gabor Egervari @GaborEgervari]

Check out our latest from @eperiandri in @SfNJournals eNeuro, showing brain region- and extent of exposure-specific effects of alcohol on the brain epigenome and transcriptome. Congratulations to all!

https://t.co/yMYfe6RL1y

[WashU Medicine Genetics @WashUGenetics]

Join @WashUGenetics this Thursday April. 2 at Noon in Connor Auditorium when Andy Groves, PhD presents, “Can we restore hearing by reprogramming the cochlea?”, hosted by Susan Dutcher, PhD!

[Aki Ushiki @AkiUshiki]

We are recruiting a postdoc or gap-year research assistant. Details are in the link below. Seeking candidates interested in cis-regulatory mechanisms and transcriptional machinery. Please RT!

Postdoc
https://t.co/yenr0EwQGj
Research Assistant (Gap Year)
https://t.co/eLoaP6B92G

[WashU Medicine Genetics @WashUGenetics]

Join @WashUGenetics this Thursday March. 26 at Noon in Connor Auditorium when Albert H. Kim, MD, PhD presents, “Designing therapies for glioblastoma based on cell-intrinsic and -extrinsic control mechanisms”, hosted by Guoyan Zhao, PhD @gzhao11!