Living systems are built and sustained by executing information encoded in DNA. While advances in genome sequencing have profoundly expanded our catalog of genes and regulatory elements, a fundamental question remains: How is the genome decoded and interpreted over time and across spatial domains to generate the diverse cell fates and functions that shape an organism? Understanding the principles by which the genome is read and interpreted is key to understanding how cell fates are established during development, maintained in homeostasis, and restored during regeneration.

We investigate RNA regulatory principles that govern embryonic cell fate transitions and identity, focusing on how RNA-driven mechanisms engineer developmental and homeostatic programs. Using pluripotent stem cell-based models, genome editing, and systems biology approaches, we reconstruct human embryogenesis and disease to dissect RNA-centric gene regulatory circuits that define cellular identity.

Our research spans multiple layers of RNA metabolism, from the cell fate–regulatory roles of pre-mRNA splicing and subcellular RNA localization to mRNA translation and proteome control. A key focus is understanding how these distinct layers of RNA regulation interact and cross-talk to coordinate gene expression programs that define cell fate and identity.

Our long-term goal is to uncover the RNA-mediated regulatory logic that shapes the self-organization of tissues and organs, providing a fundamental blueprint for development, regeneration, and disease. Bridging this critical knowledge gap is essential to decoding the molecular architecture and regulatory logic that drive embryonic development and regeneration and to advancing next-generation RNA therapeutics and regenerative medicine.