Dr. Jennifer Phillips-Cremins is an Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. She researches the brain and how neurons (nerve cells) in the brain connect and dictate brain function. Dr. Phillips-Cremins is interested in how 3D genome folding governs neuron properties in healthy states and how mis-folding contributes to neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s Disease, and Friederich’s Ataxia. Dr. Phillips-Cremins explains that chromatin organization is tightly controlled by cells, and when the chromatin becomes “tangled up,” it can no longer perform its function in the neurons, leading to disease. A lot is known about genome folding patterns over very long time scales during cell development, but very little is known about how those structures change over shorter time scales. Dr. Phillips-Cremins is funded by the 4D Nucleome program (4DN) to engineer tools that can visualize and alter chromatin structures on demand over very short time scales to provide insight into the relationship of chromatin folding and gene regulation. She is developing her tools ultimately to be used in neurons in the brain. She says that the 4DN community has helped advance her research by providing a network of people dedicated to understanding genome folding and who are developing a vast array of tools and model systems to understand changes in genome folding and its relevance to human health. Since the founding of the 4D Nucleome program, our ability to study and understand the 3D structure of the genome has expanded. This is important because neurological disorders are notoriously difficult to treat. “This is an area where we can use what we’re good at and combine it with something that’s needed in this world right now . . . there are very few treatments for these severe disorders,” Dr. Phillips-Cremins explained. She is driven by a commitment to make discoveries that help people with neurological disorders and uses this commitment as a criterion when developing new research projects.

In addition to helping others, Dr. Phillips-Cremins enjoys the challenges of her research and the opportunity to keep learning. She loves the idea of pushing herself to see what she’s capable of and persevering through difficulties. This comes through in her love of sports, serving as a point guard on her college basketball team and running a marathon during her PhD studies. Regarding her challenging research projects, she said, “Science is very humbling. The more I learn through the process, the more I realize there is so much further to go.”

Learn more about Dr. Phillips-Cremins’ 4DN research project.