Name: Takayo Sasaki (she/her/hers)
Email: tsasaki@sdbri.org
Position: Laboratory Manager and Associate in Research
Interests: I have a broad interest and experience in cell and molecular biology, especially mammalian cell cycle and DNA replication. I joined Gilbert lab as a post-doc in 2001. In recent years, about half of my time is spent for laboratory management/administration but I still develop and optimize replication timing assay, replication foci observation.
Name: Uchino Satoshi
Email: usatoshi@sdbri.org
Position: Post-Doctoral Scientist
Interests: DNA replication and transcription are fundamental nuclear events. I am interested in how the 3D chromatin structure is organized and how such events are regulated in the actual nucleus. In the Gilbert lab, I am studying the mechanism of how early replication control elements (ERCEs) function to coordinate replication timing, genome architecture and transcription in a chromosome domain-specific fashion.
Name: Jesse Turner (he/him/his)
Email: jturner@bio.fsu.edu
Position: Graduate Student
Interests: I am interested in the 3D organization of chromatin within the nucleus and how that relates to other nuclear activities, such as transcription and DNA replication. My current project in the lab is investigating early replication control elements (ERCEs) and the minimal sequences necessary for their activity within the Dppa2/4 and Rex1 domains in mouse embryonic stem cells. Currently, we know that there are three large sequences that we have identified as being necessary for early replication, transcription, TAD architecture, and sub-nuclear compartmentalization of the Dppa2/4 domain, and two more in the Rex1 domain. I am currently attempting to trim down these deletions and identify the specific sequences responsible for this activity. Outside of the lab, I enjoy watching my Baltimore Ravens on Sunday and Monday nights, supporting the University of Maryland in all of their events (GO TERPS!!), playing sports (the biology department has a pretty sick kickball team).
Name: Athanasios "Ethan" Vouzas (he/him/his)
Email: avouzas@bio.fsu.edu
Position: Graduate student
Interests: Currently, I am interested in the relationship between the regulation of transcription and the regulation of replication timing (RT). The correlation between transcription and early replication is evident, however, the causal link between the two remains elusive. To shed light into this relationship, I am inserting various artificial transcriptional regulatory elements both in defined loci in the genome (Ptn and Pcdh9) , utilizing CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing tools, as well as at random loci genome wide, using a PiggyBac transposase system. Additionally, I am investigating whether elements associated with active transcription, such as H3K27Ac, are influencing the RT of a given locus.
