September 2, 2026
Rebecca Wu's project is focused on how DNA methylation is regulated during human cardiogenesis, using pluripotent stem cells as a model system. She has already discovered that loss of TET1 and QSER1, two cooperating epigenomic regulators that act as methylation "erasers", blocks cardiac progenitor specification. She is working to understand the molecular basis for this deregulation, which will be very relevant for understanding some causes of congenital heart disease. The project, previously supported by the American Heart Association, will now be supported for 3 years by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.