Postdoc Andrés Mansisidor in the Risca lab is working in collaboration with the David lab at MSKCC and the Schwartz lab at Weill Cornell to understand how gene expression of hepatitis B virus (HBV) circular DNA is regulated and developing a new method to target and inactivate circular DNA viruses. Despite the existence of a vaccine that prevents HBV, the infection persists globally, predominantly in Africa and Asia, necessitating continuing research into new methodologies for disease interruption on a global basis.
The way a stretch of DNA is organized inside the cell—whether it is loosely or compactly packaged by associated proteins—is believed to reflect the activity level of the genes it contains. The Risca lab studies how the 3-D architecture of the mammalian genome helps to precisely control transcriptional programs and genome maintenance in both healthy cells undergoing differentiation and in cancer cells.
