Developmental Biology Program

The Danwei Huangfu Lab

Research

Danwei Huangfu, PhD
We apply both precision gene editing and large-scale CRISPR screening in human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) to explore mechanisms underlying human development. Specifically, we are interrogating the protein-coding regulators of pancreatic development and β cell function. The pathways that regulate these processes can be exploited for therapeutics to prevent and reverse diseases such as type 1 and type 2 diabetes. In a second, closely related area, we are developing approaches to discover developmental enhancers, and to understand the epigenetic regulation of noncoding regulatory elements with a focus on DNA methylation.

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The Danwei Huangfu Lab

Publications

QSER1 protects DNA methylation valleys from de novo methylation. Dixon G, Pan H, Yang D, Rosen BP, Jashari T, Verma N, Pulecio J, Caspi I, Lee K, Stransky S, Glezer A, Liu C, Rivas M, Kumar R, Lan Y, Torregroza I, He C, Sidoli S, Evans T, Elemento O, Huangfu D. Science. 2021 Apr 9;372(6538):eabd0875. doi: 10.1126/science.abd0875. [PMID: 33833093]

FOXA2 Is Required for Enhancer Priming during Pancreatic Differentiation. Lee K, Cho H, Rickert RW, Li QV, Pulecio J, Leslie CS, Huangfu D. Cell Rep. 2019;28(2):382-393.e7. 

Genome-scale screens identify JNK-JUN signaling as a barrier for pluripotency exit and endoderm differentiation. Li QV, Dixon G, Verma N, Rosen BP, Gordillo M, Luo R, Xu C, Wang Q, Soh CL, Yang D, Crespo M, Shukla A, Xiang Q, Dündar F, Zumbo P, Witkin M, Koche R, Betel D, Chen S, Massagué J, Garippa R, Evans T, Beer MA, Huangfu D. Nat Genet. 2019;51(6):999-1010.

DICER1 Is Essential for Self-Renewal of Human Embryonic Stem Cells. Teijeiro V, Yang D, Majumdar S, González F, Rickert RW, Xu C, Koche R, Verma N, Lai EC, Huangfu D. Stem Cell Reports. 2018;11(3):616-625. 

TET proteins safeguard bivalent promoters from de novo methylation in human embryonic stem cells. Verma N, Pan H, Doré LC, Shukla A, Li QV, Pelham-Webb B, Teijeiro V, González F, Krivtsov A, Chang CJ, Papapetrou EP, He C, Elemento O, Huangfu D. Nat Genet. 2018;50(1):83-95.

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People

Pictured: Danwei Huangfu

Danwei Huangfu, PhD

  • The Huangfu laboratory uses human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) as a powerful genetic model to interrogate the transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms underlying cell fate decisions in development and disease.
  • PhD, Cornell University, Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences
  • BS, Fudan University
huangfud@mskcc.org
Email Address
212-639-5239
Office Phone
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Members

Inbal   Caspi
Inbal Caspi

Graduate Research Assistant

Renhe Luo
Renhe Luo

Graduate Research Assistant

Julian Pulecio

Research Fellow

Bess Rosen
Bess Rosen

Graduate Research Assistant

Dapeng Yang
Dapeng Yang

Research Fellow

Xian Zhang
Xian Zhang

Research Fellow

Adonis C. John
Adonis C. John

Administrative Assistant

Jeyaram (Jey) Ravichandran Damodaran
Jeyaram Ravichandran Damodaran

Technician Research Assistant

Samuel Kaplan

Graduate Research Assistant

GSK Student
Dingyu Liu

Graduate Research Assistant

Jielin Yan
Jielin Yan

Graduate Research Assistant

Nan Zhang

Research Fellow

Lab Alumni
Gary Dixon
Gary Dixon

Graduate Research Assistant

Kihyun Lee
Kihyun Lee

Graduate Research Assistant

Tracey Leonardo

Research Technician

Qing Li, BS
Qing Li

Graduate Research Assistant

Robert Rickert
Robert Rickert

Research Technician

Abhijit Shukla

Research Fellow

Chew-Li Soh, PhD
Chew-Li Soh

Research Fellow

Virginia Teijeiro

Graduate Research Assistant

Nipun Verma
Nipun Verma

Graduate Research Assistant

Daniela C. Georgieva
Daniela C. Georgieva

Research Technician

Federico Gonzalez-Grassi
Federico Gonzalez-Grassi

Research Fellow

Katherine Lelli, PhD
Katherine Lelli

Research Fellow

Zhong-Dong Shi
Zhong-Dong Shi

Research Fellow

Zengrong Zhu, PhD
Zengrong Zhu

Research Associate

Lab Affiliations

Achievements

  • Basil O’Connor Scholar, March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation (2012-2014)
  • Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. Young Investigators Award, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (2011-2014)
  • Award from Harvard Catalyst & InnoCentive for the Ideation Challenge on “What Do We Not Know to Cure Type 1 Diabetes” (2010)
  • Helen Hay Whitney Postdoctoral Fellowship (2006-2009)

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Disclosures

Doctors and faculty members often work with pharmaceutical, device, biotechnology, and life sciences companies, and other organizations outside of MSK, to find safe and effective cancer treatments, to improve patient care, and to educate the health care community.

MSK requires doctors and faculty members to report (“disclose”) the relationships and financial interests they have with external entities. As a commitment to transparency with our community, we make that information available to the public.

Danwei Huangfu discloses the following relationships and financial interests:

No disclosures meeting criteria for time period


The information published here is for a specific annual disclosure period. There may be differences between information on this and other public sites as a result of different reporting periods and/or the various ways relationships and financial interests are categorized by organizations that publish such data.


This page and data include information for a specific MSK annual disclosure period (January 1, 2020 through disclosure submission in spring 2021). This data reflects interests that may or may not still exist. This data is updated annually.

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