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Kenneth Chang

Kenneth Chang

Research Associate Professor/Director, Functional Genomics
Cancer Center Member

Ph.D., Stony Brook University, 2002

changk@cshl.edu | 516-367-5418

Faculty Profile

RNA interference (RNAi) and CRISPR are widely used to functionally investigate mammalian genomes. It is our goal to develop and optimize these gene perturbation platforms to improve their effectiveness in understanding the biology of diseases.

Loss-of-function genetics has proven essential for interrogating the functions of genes and for probing their roles within the complex circuitry of biological pathways. Kenneth Chang developed genetic approaches for perturbing genes using shRNAs (RNAi), optimized the effectiveness of these shRNA designs, and created shRNA infrastructure and resources for genetic screens in mammalian cells. These resources include shRNA libraries modeled after microRNAs (miRNAs) and algorithms for predicting highly potent shRNA designs. Dr. Chang has performed many genetic screens in cancer cells and has expanded his research to include a significant focus on CRISPR technologies and their applications. The lab’s goal is to leverage these technologies to promote a deeper understanding of cancer pathways and dependencies, with the potential for discovery of new therapeutic targets and generation of disease-relevant models for improving human health. As the Director of the Functional Genomics Shared Resource, Dr. Chang and his lab also provide access to advanced RNAi/CRISPR technologies, construction of custom RNAi/CRISPR libraries, and assists in the design and implementation of genetic screens to support research programs at CSHL and the scientific community.

Selected Publications

Transcriptional silencing of ALDH2 confers a dependency on Fanconi anemia proteins in acute myeloid leukemia.

23 Apr 2021 | Cancer Discovery
Yang, Zhaolin, Wu, Xiaoli, Wei, Yiliang, Polyanskaya, Sofya, Iyer, Shruti, Jung, Moonjung, Lach, Francis, Adelman, Emmalee, Klingbeil, Olaf, Milazzo, Joseph, Kramer, Melissa, Demerdash, Osama, Chang, Kenneth, Goodwin, Sara, Hodges, Emily, McCombie, W, Figueroa, Maria, Smogorzewska, Agata, Vakoc, Christopher

Processing by RNase 1 forms tRNA halves and distinct Y RNA fragments in the extracellular environment

20 Aug 2020 | Nucleic Acids Research | 48(14):8035-8049
Nechooshtan, G, Yunusov, D, Chang, K, Gingeras, T

The human Origin Recognition Complex is essential for pre-RC assembly, mitosis and maintenance of nuclear structure

6 Aug 2020 | BioRxiv
Chou, H, Bhalla, K, El Demerdash, O, Klingbeil, O, Hanington, Kaarina, Aganezov, S, Andrews, P, Alsudani, H, Chang, K, Vakoc, C, Schatz, M, McCombie, W, Stillman, B

Miswired Enhancer Logic Drives a Cancer of the Muscle Lineage.

22 May 2020 | iScience | 23(5):101103
Gryder, B, Wachtel, M, Chang, K, El Demerdash, O, Aboreden, N, Mohammed, W, Ewert, W, Pomella, S, Rota, R, Wei, J, Song, Y, Stanton, B, Schafer, B, Vakoc, C, Khan, J

Neutrophil extracellular traps produced during inflammation awaken dormant cancer cells in mice

28 Sep 2018 | Science | 361(6409)
Albrengues, J, Shields, M, Ng, D, Park, C, Ambrico, A, Poindexter, M, Upadhyay, P, Uyeminami, D, Pommier, A, Kuttner, V, Bruzas, E, Maiorino, L, Bautista, C, Carmona, E, Gimotty, P, Fearon, D, Chang, K, Lyons, S, Pinkerton, K, Trotman, L, Goldberg, M, Yeh, J, Egeblad, M

All Publications

BRD8 maintains glioblastoma by epigenetic reprogramming of the p53 network

21 Dec 2022 | Nature
Sun, Xueqin, Klingbeil, Olaf, Lu, Bin, Wu, Caizhi, Ballon, Carlos, Ouyang, Meng, Wu, Xiaoli, Jin, Ying, Hwangbo, Yon, Huang, Yu-Han, Somerville, Tim, Chang, Kenneth, Park, Jung, Chung, Taemoon, Lyons, Scott, Shi, Junwei, Vogel, Hannes, Schulder, Michael, Vakoc, Christopher, Mills, Alea

Epigenome programing by H3.3K27M mutation creates a dependence of pediatric glioma on SMARCA4

28 Oct 2022 | Cancer Discovery | :CD-21
Mo, Yan, Duan, Shoufu, Zhang, Xu, Hua, Xu, Zhou, Hui, Wei, Hong-Jian, Watanabe, Jun, McQuillan, Nicholas, Su, Zhenyi, Gu, Wei, Wu, Cheng-Chia, Vakoc, Christopher, Hashizume, Rintaro, Chang, Kenneth, Zhang, Zhiguo

Dicer promotes genome stability via the bromodomain transcriptional co-activator BRD4

22 Feb 2022 | Nature Communications | 13(1):1001
Gutbrod, M, Roche, B, Steinberg, J, Lakhani, A, Chang, K, Schorn, A, Martienssen, R

SMARCA4 biology in alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma

29 Jan 2022 | Oncogene
Bharathy, Narendra, Cleary, Megan, Kim, Jin-Ah, Nagamori, Kiyo, Crawford, Kenneth, Wang, Eric, Saha, Debarya, Settelmeyer, Teagan, Purohit, Reshma, Skopelitis, Damianos, Chang, Kenneth, Doran, Jessica, Kirschbaum, C, Bharathy, Suriya, Crews, Davis, Randolph, Matthew, Karnezis, Anthony, Hudson-Price, Lisa, Dhawan, Jyotsna, Michalek, Joel, Ciulli, Alessio, Vakoc, Christopher, Keller, Charles

SLC5A3-dependent myo-inositol auxotrophy in acute myeloid leukemia.

16 Sep 2021 | Cancer Discovery | :candisc.1849.2020
Wei, Yiliang, Huang, Yu-Han, Skopelitis, Damianos, Iyer, Shruti, Costa, Ana, Yang, Zhaolin, Kramer, Melissa, Adelman, Emmalee, Klingbeil, Olaf, Demerdash, Osama, Polyanskaya, Sofya, Chang, Kenneth, Goodwin, Sara, Hodges, Emily, McCombie, W, Figueroa, Maria, Vakoc, Christopher

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