
Kenneth S. Zaret, Ph.D.
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

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 NAME | LAST NAME | TITLE | |
---|---|---|---|
Kenneth | Zaret | PI | zaret@pennmedicine.upenn.edu |
Amandine | Barral | Postdoctoral Fellow | Amandine.Barrall@pennmedicine.upenn.edu |
Diona | Cashioli | Administrative Assistant | diona.cashioli@pennmedicine.upenn.edu |
Greg | Donahue | Senior Data Analyst | gdonahue@pennmedicine.upenn.edu |
Megan | Frederick | Graduate Student | meganfr@pennmedicine.upenn.edu |
Kenji | Ito | Postdoctoral Fellow | kenji.ito@pennmedicine.upenn.edu |
Andrew | Katznelson | Graduate Student | akatznel@pennmedicine.upenn.edu |
Jonathan | Lerner | Postdoctoral Fellow | jler@pennmedicine.upenn.edu |
Claire | Makowski | Graduate Student | claire.makowski@pennmedicine.upenn.edu |
Ryan | McCaarthy | Postdoctoral Fellow | ryanlm@pennmedicine.upenn.edu |
Edgar | Monteiro | Graduate Student | edgarluz@sas.upenn.edu |
Ann | O'Brien Jenkins | Research Specialist | aoj@pennmedicine.upenn.edu |
Naomi | Takenaka | MA, Research Specialist, Lab Manager | ntaken@pennmedicine.upenn.edu |
Melinda | Yin | Research Specialist | melinda.yin@pennmedicine.upenn.edu |
Jingchao | Zhang | Postdoctoral Fellow | Jingchao.zhang@pennmedicine.upenn.edu |