The long-term goal of the Pitchiaya lab is to understand how cells regulate gene expression and how aberrant gene regulation contributes to pathology, especially cancer and non-malignant genitourinary (GU) diseases.
The current thrust of the lab is two-fold:
- To dissect the impact of dynamic biomolecular organization, as occurring within subcellular condensates, on RNA metabolism, RNA function and cell fate in stress response and cancer, and
- To delineate the influence of cellular heterogeneity, complexity and organization in GU tissue function and tumor biology.
We develop and deploy incisive tools that are based on spatially resolved single-cell imaging, single-molecule microscopy and next-generation sequencing, which quantify gene expression and probe biomolecular organization at high-sensitivity, -throughput and -resolution.
Our work spans basic and translational sciences and stands to obtain a systems level understanding of regulatory paradigms across biological (nano-, meso-, subcellular, cellular and tissue) scales, with the ultimate aim of translating this information for diagnostic and therapeutic applications.
Research interests: Gene regulation, RNA biology, Cancer biology, Functional genomics, Spatial omics, Single-molecule imaging
Assistant Professor of Urology
Medical School
