Makiko Iwafuchi, PhD

My research focuses on deciphering the chromatin-level regulation in cell fate changes and understanding how different families of pioneer factors and cellular microenvironments impact on such regulation. Our team tackles these questions by combining the developmental biology of human stem cells and organoid culture systems with genomics, bioinformatics and super-resolution imaging.

The long-term goal of my lab is to reveal gene and chromatin regulatory principles underlying dramatic cell fate changing events that occur in embryonic development, tissue repair and disease. My ultimate goal is to utilize this knowledge to precisely control cell fates.

During my education and career, I was honored to receive fellowships from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Sciences (JSPS), the Naito Foundation, the Astellas Foundation and the Uehara Memorial Foundation.