Department of Genetics
February 2026
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Congratulations to Michael Province, PhD, on receiving the 2026 Dean’s Impact Award |
The Dean’s Impact Award recognizes faculty who demonstrate sustained excellence, exceptional professionalism, and lasting impact across the School’s missions of research, education, and clinical care. Dr. Province’s outstanding contributions and unwavering commitment to his field exemplify the very best of our community. Please join us in celebrating this well-deserved honor!
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Aki Ushiki, PhD, awarded preeclampsia foundation’s Peter J. Pappas Research Grant |
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Aki Ushiki, PhD, Assistant Professor of Genetics has been awarded a 2026 Peter J. Pappas Research Grant from the Preeclampsia Foundation. The award provides $99,997 in research funding to support innovative studies aimed at improving outcomes for pregnant individuals and babies affected by preeclampsia and related hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.
Read more »
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Frederick Arnold, PhD, awarded ALS Network Research Innovation Grant |
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Frederick Arnold, PhD, Assistant Professor of Genetics has been awarded a 2025 Research Innovation Grant from the ALS Network and ALS United. The award provides $150,000 in funding over one year to support his research in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Read more »
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Yang Li, PhD, awarded prestigious ALSF ‘A’ Award Grant for pediatric brain tumor research |
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Yang Li, PhD, Assistant Professor of Genetics and Neurosurgery, has been selected as a recipient of the 2025 Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) ‘A’ Award Grant for his groundbreaking work in childhood cancer research. The award provides $800,000 in total funding over four years, supporting Dr. Li’s efforts to advance understanding of aggressive pediatric brain tumors.
Read more »
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Researchers illuminate the epigenetic basis of microglial plasticity Read more » |
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Researchers decode how a ketogenic diet modifies brain synaptic function Read more » |
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Zefan (Vivien) Li Named WashU Pivot 314 Fellow |
Zefan (Vivien) Li, a third-year graduate student in the Jin lab, has been selected for the 2026 cohort of Washington University in St. Louis’s Pivot 314 Fellowship, a competitive program that supports emerging leaders across disciplines.
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| Purva Patel earns full scholarship to attend prestigious St. Jude Graduate Symposium |
Purva Patel, a third-year graduate student in the Jin lab, has been awarded a highly selective full scholarship to attend the 2026 St. Jude National Graduate Student Symposium - one of 40 awardees selected from more than 1,900 applicants.
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Vikram Karra nominated for prestigious Goldwater Scholarship |
Congratulations to undergraduate student Vikram Karra in the Tristan Li lab for being nominated for the prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarship. This highly competitive national scholarship recognizes outstanding undergraduates pursuing research careers in science, mathematics, and engineering.
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| Postdoctoral researcher Huma Naz in the Zhao lab receives travel awards |
Congratulations to Huma Naz, PhD, on receiving two prestigious travel awards in support of her research presentations this spring. She was selected as one of 43 poster presenters to receive a Partial Travel Award-2 for the 2026 United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology (USCAP) Annual Scientific Meeting in Philadelphia, PA, and was also named a Travel Awardee for the upcoming PURPOSE Annual Meeting.
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Graduate student Zitian Tang's poster selected for a Reviewer’s Choice Award at the 2025 American Society of Human Genetics Annual Meeting. Congrats! |
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The Ushiki lab received a Just-In-Time (JIT) Core Usage Funding. With this support, the lab plans to create mutant human trophoblast stem cells (hTSCs) to study preeclampsia.
- The Egervari Lab has been awarded a $50,000, one-year Pilot & Feasibility Program grant from the Nutrition Obesity Research Center (NORC) to support the project, “Metabolic Regulation of Neuronal Chromatin and Gene Expression by Diet and Nutrients.”
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At the suggestion of faculty, the Department held its first Genetics Faculty Retreat for PIs, at the Moonrise Hotel, Jan. 9, 2026 |
The focus was Department growth, culture, community and team building; with a significant emphasis on AI and trainee support. Post-retreat survey results indicate the faculty are in favor of holding a local retreat annually.
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Congratulations to the top teams of the 1st Department of Genetics Billiard Tournament! We appreciate everyone who joined in and helped kick off this exciting new tradition. |
1st Place: Team cuePCR - Mr. Joshua Yakubov, Dr. Renjie Shang, Dr. Aamir Khan
2nd Place: Team Gene Pool Sharks - Dr. Peter Jin, Dr. Gabor Egervari, Mr. John Sullivan
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Thank you to everyone who contributed to our recent food drive in support of local community members in need. Thanks to your generosity, we collected an incredible 110 items! Your support makes a meaningful difference, and we’re grateful for your compassion and community spirit! |
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We’re excited to share that the Department of Genetics has officially launched our LinkedIn page! Follow us to stay up to date on the latest news within our community. We also encourage you to invite your connections to follow the page and help us grow our network. |
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“Multiomic single nuclei profiling the mouse hippocampus reveals that ACSS2 confers neuronal resilience to tauopathy” in Alzheimer's & Dementia, Egervari lab
"Ketogenic diet dampens excitatory neurotransmission by shrinking synaptic vesicle pools" in Cell Reports, Egervari lab
"State-specific enhancer landscapes govern microglial plasticity" in Immunity, Tristan Li lab
"Antecedent enhancer activity predicts future susceptibility to seizures in mice" in Nature Communications, Dougherty lab
"Time trends in the male to female ratio for autism incidence: population based, prospectively collected, birth cohort study" in The BMJ, Dougherty lab
"Neurobehavioral Profiles and Clinical Consequences of MYT1L-Related Neurodevelopmental Disorder: Insights from the Brain Gene Registry" preprint, Dougherty lab
"A benchmark of expert-level academic questions to assess AI capabilities" in Nature, Wang lab
"Distinct contributions of Etv2+ and Flk1+ progenitors to endothelial, hematopoietic, and cardiac lineages" in Cell Reports, Wang lab
"An integrated view of the structure and function of the human 4D nucleome" in Nature, Wang lab
"The IGVF catalog—from genetic variation to function" in Nucleic Acids Research, Wang lab
"INSM1 governs a neuronal progenitor state that drives glioblastoma in a human stem cell model" in Nature Communications, Wang lab
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| Genetics Seminar Series – Guoyan Zhao, PhD |
- Thursday, Feb 26, 2026, noon – 1:00 p.m.
- Moore Auditorium
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Join the Dutcher Lecture next Thursday in honor of Dr. Guoyan Zhao receiving tenure!
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4th Annual Rare Disease Day |
- Feb. 26, 2026, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
- EPNEC
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WashU's 4th Annual Rare Disease Day Symposium!
Watch this video preview
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| Adolfo and Fanny Rizzo Special Symposium - Autism & Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Connecting Research and Community |
- April. 8, 2026, 10:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
- EPNEC 1st Floor
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Post-doc Position Ad: The Au lab (PI: Kin Fai Au) at University of Michigan is looking for a Post-doc. For details please reach out to Wendy Dong (wendy.dong@wustl.edu).
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