We work at the spatial biology-technology interface to understand chromatin<–>synapse communication in the mammalian brain.

The Cremins lab aims to understand how chromatin works through long-range physical folding mechanisms to encode neuronal specification and long-term synaptic plasticity in healthy and diseased neural circuits. We pursue a multi-disciplinary approach integrating data across biological scales in the brain, including molecular Chromosome-Conformation-Capture sequencing technologies, single-cell imaging, optogenetics, genome engineering, induced pluripotent stem cell differentiation to neurons/organoids, and in vitro and in vivo electrophysiological measurements.

  • Daniel Emerson, Miriam Minsk, Ashley Cook, and Jordan Barnett publish their 3D genome and replication origins paper https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04803-0

  • Spencer Haws is the recipient of the New York Stem Cell Foundation Druckenmiller Postdoc Fellowship. Congratulations Spencer, and welcome to the NYSCF community!

  • Brian Franklin passes his qualifying exam in the Cell and Molecular Biology graduate group. Congratulations Brian!

  • Katelyn R. Titus defends her PhD proposal and advances as a PhD candidate in Penn’s Bioengineering graduate program. Congratulations Kate!

  • Miriam Minsk will begin the MD/PhD program at UCSF in September 2022. Congratulations Miriam!

  • Emily J. Pickup passes her qualifying exam and advances as a PhD candidate in Penn’s Neuroscience graduate program. Congratulations Emily!

  • Congratulations to our alum Jon Beagan who received the LSRF postdoctoral fellowship for his work in Daniel Colon Ramos lab at Yale. 

  • Harshini Chandrashekar speaks on her work at Penn’s NeuroEpigenetics interest group.

  • Jon Beagan’s paper on cohesin-independent loops during neural stimulation is accepted at eLIFE!

  • Dan Emerson and Ashley Cook’s paper on cohesin-mediated loops and human replication origins is accepted at Nature!

  • Zoltan Simandi speaks on his work at Penn’s Epigenetics Institute

  • Jordan Barnett’s collaborative work with the Joyce lab is available on BioRxiv: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.04.08.487672

Our work is supported by the New York Stem Cell Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of Neural Disorders and Stroke, NIH Common fund initiatives, the Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and the NIH 4D Nucleome Common Fund Initiative.