Research focus & core areas
Functional genomics
CRISPR screens, single-cell transcriptomics, and epigenetic regulation in disease models.
8 active grantsInfectious disease
Host-pathogen interactions, rapid sequencing, and antiviral resistance surveillance.
CDC collaboratorPrecision diagnostics
Liquid biopsy, methylation biomarkers, and digital PCR for oncology & rare diseases.
CLIA labNeurogenetics
Identifying genetic modifiers of neurodegeneration using iPSC and mouse models.
NIH R01
Key instrumentation
Illumina NovaSeq X
High-throughput sequencing · 10B reads/run
10x Genomics Chromium
Single-cell isolation & library prep
Thermo Fisher Q Exactive
Orbitrap mass spectrometer
ZEISS LSM 980
Confocal with Airyscan 2
Beckman Cytobot
Automated high-content screening
Bio-Rad QX600
droplet digital PCR
Principal investigators & leads
ED
Elena De Luca, PhD
Director · Functional genomics
MW
Marcus Weber, MD
Clinical genomics
SC
Sophia Chen, PhD
Proteomics & mass spec
JR
James Rodriguez
Senior bioinformatician
14 additional research fellows, grad students, and technicians
Recent publications
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2025
Single-cell dissection of transcriptional memory in drug-tolerant lung cancer cells.Nat. Genetics, Weber et al.
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2024
A multi-omics atlas of host response to M. tuberculosis in alveolar organoids.Cell Reports, De Luca, Chen et al.
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2024
Ultrasensitive methylation haplotyping by targeted nanopore sequencing.Genome Biol., Rodriguez et al.
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2023
High‑throughput CRISPRi screening identifies novel modulators of tau aggregation.Neuron, Chen & Weber