Tim Read

Transcription is orchestrated by the sequence-specific binding of transcription factors to DNA. I am interested in how transcription factor binding affects enhancer RNA (eRNA)-mediated transcriptional regulation. I leverage rapidly inducible transcription factors such as p53, in combination with high-throughput methods such as GRO-seq and ChIP-seq, to help uncover relevant mechanisms. My graduate work focused on how genetic variation between individuals affects transcriptional regulation (PLoS Genetics, 2016). I hope to combine these two areas of study to better understand how eRNA-mediated transcriptional regulation contributes to human health and disease.

Publications:

Read T, Richmond PA, Dowell RD. A trans-acting Variant within the Transcription Factor RIM101 Interacts with Genetic Background to Determine its Regulatory Capacity. PLoS Genet. 2016 Jan 11;12(1):e1005746.

Hendrix J, Read T, Lalonde JF, Jensen PK, Heymann W, Lovelace E, Zimmermann SA, Brasino M, Rokicki J, Dowell RD. Engineered calcium-precipitable restriction enzyme. ACS Synth Biol. 2014 Dec 19;3(12):969-71.