The Vakoc Laboratory

Cancer Epigenetics Research

Our lab seeks to understand how epigenetic dysregulation contributes to the pathogenesis of human cancer. A key focus of our research is on epigenetic dependencies: we seek to understand why cancer cells become ‘addicted’ to specific regulators of transcription and chromatin. Another theme in the lab is lineage plasticity and how epigenetic mechanisms govern cancer cell identity. High-throughput CRISPR-based genetic screens feature prominently in our work, as we seek to reveal the most important epigenetic regulators in specific cancers in an unbiased manner. Our research has revealed novel targets for cancer therapy that are under investigation in human clinical trials.

Ph.D. student and Post-doc positions are available