01 / Regulatory DNA
Reading the noncoding genome
How do enhancers and inherited variants shape leukemia risk? We use CRISPR screens and dense base editing to resolve regulatory function.
Vienna · St. Anna CCRI & CeMM
Decoding gene regulation in childhood cancer.
We combine genome engineering, functional genomics and chromatin biology to understand leukemia and uncover new vulnerabilities.
FROM sequence To function
From a single nucleotide to a new mechanism.
We map regulatory DNA at nucleotide resolution, dissect the machinery that reads the genome, and test what these discoveries mean for pediatric leukemia.
Chromatin machinery and cancer vulnerabilities
Dissecting SAGA. Uncovering new vulnerabilities.
We investigate how the SAGA complex assembles and controls histone acetylation, and how disrupting its structural components destabilizes KAT2A in leukemia cells.
From molecular mechanism to disease
Engineering models to understand leukemia.
We use mouse models, hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and human samples to study a specific subtype of pediatric leukemia, identify targets, test the activity of drugs and molecules.
What we study
Our research
02 / Transcriptional machinery
Dissecting the SAGA complex
We study how co-activator complexes assemble, control chromatin and expose vulnerabilities in leukemia cells.
03 / Disease models
Connecting mechanism to disease
We use experimental hematology and genomics to model and understand pediatric leukemia.
Selected publications · 2026
Recent discoveries
Functional genomics
Mapping enhancers one nucleotide at a time
A tiled base editing strategy couples sequence changes to an allelic readout of regulatory activity.
Nature Communications · 2026 ↗
Chromatin biology
Disrupting SAGA destabilizes KAT2A
Loss of the SAGA CORE triggers collateral degradation of its acetyltransferase and reduces histone acetylation.
Nature Communications · 2026 ↗
Leukemia predisposition
ARID5B coordinates transcriptional repression
The leukemia risk factor ARID5B links to HDAC mediated control of gene expression.
Nucleic Acids Research · 2026 ↗
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The people behind the work
We hunt for mechanisms that explain disease
We are an international team in Vienna studying gene regulation, hematopoiesis and childhood cancer.