Welcome to the Wulfridge Lab for R-Loop Biology
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LEARN DISCOVER TEACH
Exploring Cellular Roles of the R-Loop
The Wulfridge Lab studies the R-loop, a curious three-stranded nucleic acid structure that undergoes dynamic cycles of formation and removal within the genomic DNA of all cells. Once viewed mainly as a source of DNA damage and threat to genomic integrity, R-loops have increasingly been found to also play essential roles in various cellular processes. Our group's goal is to better understand how R-loops interact with proteins and epigenetic factors to facilitate these pathways, how dysregulation of R-loops in disease can contribute to pathogenesis, and how R-loops and their partners might be targeted for therapeutic intervention.
We tackle these questions using a combination of wet-lab and dry-lab approaches spanning molecular biology, cell biology and gene editing, and functional genomics. We hope to elucidate mechanisms behind R-loop function that will help develop therapeutic targets for a broad range of diseases, including breast and ovarian cancer.
We ask questions like:
What factors do R-loops recruit that help facilitate DNA repair?
And how can R-loop dependent DNA repair pathways be targeted as a vulnerability in cancers resistant to chemotherapy?
How can R-loop dysregulation alter genome organization in disease?
And how might this be related to R-loop suppressing proteins that are commonly mutated in disease?
Join our Journey of Discovery
We are recruiting enthusiastic and dedicated scientists who seek to contribute to R-loop knowledge through focused, rigorous research projects and gain expertise in techniques in both benchwork and bioinformatics. Whether at the research staff, student, or postdoctoral level, members will find career-supporting mentorship and growth through Phillip's philosophy of "LEARN - DISCOVER - TEACH" and become part of a vibrant, inquisitive, and collaborative lab environment.