Ken Zaret

Kenneth S. Zaret, Ph.D.

Joseph Leidy Professor; Director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine

University of Pennsylvania
The Perelman School of Medicine
Department of Cell and Developmental Biology
9-132 Smilow Center for Translational Research
3400 Civic Center Blvd
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Fax: 215-898-9871
Office: 215-573-5813

Lab: 215-573-5844

Research Interest

Ken’s laboratory discovered “pioneer factors” that bind to silent chromatin, endow the competence for cell differentiation, and promote cellular reprogramming. Recently, his lab found broad chromatin domains that can resist pioneer factor binding and serve as impediments to cellular reprogramming; these domains appear to help commit cells to particular fates. Finally, his lab has unveiled how inductive signaling in the embryo leads to chromatin modifications that affect cell fate choices, thereby identifying specific enzymatic targets for small molecules to modulate cell fate control.

Lab Members

FIRST NAMELAST NAMETITLEEMAIL
KennethZaretPIzaret@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
AmandineBarralPostdoctoral FellowAmandine.Barrall@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Diona CashioliAdministrative Assistantdiona.cashioli@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
GregDonahueSenior Data Analystgdonahue@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
MeganFrederickGraduate Studentmeganfr@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
KenjiItoPostdoctoral Fellowkenji.ito@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
AndrewKatznelsonGraduate Studentakatznel@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
JonathanLernerPostdoctoral Fellowjler@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
ClaireMakowskiGraduate Studentclaire.makowski@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
RyanMcCaarthyPostdoctoral Fellowryanlm@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
EdgarMonteiroGraduate Studentedgarluz@sas.upenn.edu
AnnO'Brien JenkinsResearch Specialistaoj@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
NaomiTakenakaMA, Research Specialist, Lab Managerntaken@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
MelindaYinResearch Specialistmelinda.yin@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
JingchaoZhangPostdoctoral FellowJingchao.zhang@pennmedicine.upenn.edu