QB3-UCSC Graduate Fellowship for Innovators
My research focuses on developing innovative methods to map chromatin accessibility using nanopore long-read sequencing with the ultimate goal of better understanding how epigenetic changes impact RNA processing. In Brooks lab, we designed an end-to-end platform combining Add-seq, a novel method for chromatin accessibility profiling, and NEMO, a deep learning model for accurate detection of DNA modifications from nanopore signals. Unlike traditional approaches requiring nuclei extraction, Add-seq uses a cell-permeable small molecule, angelicin, to crosslink nucleotides in accessible chromatin regions, achieving DNA labeling just from intact cells. The continued development of this approach will allow for single-molecule chromatin accessibility profiling in low-input samples like liquid biopsy and single cells and has great potential in translational research.