William Pastor, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry, McGill University
research axis 3
Address
- 514-398-8350
- william.pastor@mcgill.ca
- https://www.mcgill.ca/biochemistry/about-us/department/faculty-members/william-pastor
- 3655 promenade Sir-William-Osler Office: Room 800B; Lab: 800 Montreal, H3G 1Y6
Research interests
1. Placentation
In the first days of human life, distinct cells called trophoblasts are specified and go on to form most of the placenta. Given the critical importance of the placenta for fetal and maternal health, our lab will study transcriptional control of trophoblast specification and early placental development.
2. Heterochromatin establishment
Dramatic epigenetic changes occur in early human development. Most notably, there is a global increase in DNA methylation, an epigenetic mark critical for silencing genes and transposons. The methylation pattern established in early development is largely conserved through the rest of life. We will use stem cell based models to determine how DNA methyltransferases are regulated and how DNA methylation is patterned.
Members of the laboratory
Ishtiaque Hossein, MSc
PhD student
ishtiaque.hossain@mail.mcgill.ca
Jessica Cinkornpumin, MSc
PhD student
jessica.cinkornpumin@mail.mcgill.ca
Deepak Saini, MSc
PhD student
deepak.saini@mail.mcgill.ca
Nathalia Azevedo Portilho, PhD
Postdoc
nathalia.azevedoportilho@mail.mcgill.ca
Jacinthe Sirois, MSc
Research assistant
jacinthe.sirois@mcgill.ca