2025 Prather Lecture Series: Feng Zhang
Date and Time
Location
Dr. Feng Zhang
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Core Member, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
Investigator, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT
James and Patricia Poitras Professor in Neuroscience, MIT
Departments of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Biological Engineering, MIT
Abstract: Cell state and identity are largely defined by combinations of transcription factors, and a number of studies have shown that exogenous expression of certain transcription factors can alter cell state and identity. The ability to modulate cell state would unlock new opportunities for engineering physiology, enabling cell replacement therapies and restoration of cellular homeostasis in disease and age. In this lecture, Zhang will describe his work mapping the effects of transcription factor expression on stem cell fate using a library of human transcription factor ORFs. In addition, he will describe a related approach to identify factors lost during immune-aging and his efforts to transiently restore these factors.
Co-sponsored by The Departments of Molecular and Cellular Biology and Organismic and Evolutionary Biology