{"id":10,"date":"2024-01-24T15:27:12","date_gmt":"2024-01-24T15:27:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/labs.bio.cmu.edu\/henninger\/?page_id=10"},"modified":"2026-05-12T18:30:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T18:30:39","slug":"home","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/labs.bio.cmu.edu\/henninger\/","title":{"rendered":"Home"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Exploring RNA-directed gene regulation in cell fate & disease<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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The Henninger Lab explores how RNA regulates gene expression at multiple scales in health and disease. We use approaches based in molecular biology, soft-matter physics, and super-resolution imaging to understand how RNA regulates its own production to direct cell fate and how RNA-mediated dysregulation contributes to human disease.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

Learn more about our work<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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LAB NEWS<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Meeting of the Minds Undergraduate Research Symposium<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

April 29, 2026<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

Grant and Emily presented a poster on their fantastic work uncovering how different transcriptional proteins contribute to condensate formation.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Deyuan passes his qualifying exam!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

January 28, 2026<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

Deyuan did a great job presenting his thesis proposal, officially becoming a Ph.D. candidate. Congratulations, Deyuan!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Nic joins the lab!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

January 15, 2026<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

The lab welcomes Nic Fitzgerald as a masters student in the CMU Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering program. Nic will be working on antisense oligos to target RNAs. Welcome, Nic!!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Julie joins the lab!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

January 12, 2026<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

The lab welcomes Julie Bove as a Ph.D. student from the Joint Pitt-CMU Computational Biology Program. Welcome, Julie!!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Arth completes his Masters Thesis!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

December 8, 2025<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

Arth successfully defended his Masters research thesis, titled \"Computational Approaches to Decode How RNA and RNA-binding Proteins Regulate Transcription\". Congratulations, Arth!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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2025 Lab Holiday Party!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

December 6, 2025<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

The lab had a great time enjoying food and a variety of games!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Bailey was a finalist for the Proteintech Best Lab Manager Award!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

December 3, 2025<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

https:\/\/www.ptglab.com\/news\/company-news\/best-lab-manager-award\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Dr. Steven Smeal joins the lab!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

November 10, 2025<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

Steven joins the lab as a post-doc, coming from Robin Lee's lab<\/a> at the University of Pittsburgh. Welcome Steven!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Rustbelt RNA Meeting<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

October 25, 2025<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

Dervla gave an amazing talk at the RNA Rustbelt meeting!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Henninger Explores Targeting RNA in Cancer Prevention, Treatment<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

October 20, 2025<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

Check out this article<\/a> on the lab's current work!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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The lab receives an award from the Samuel and Emma Winters Foundation!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

September 25, 2025<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

The lab received a funding award from the Samuel and Emma Winters Foundation<\/a> to support our efforts to develop antisense oligonucleotides as therapeutic tools in cancer and other human disease. We are very grateful for the support!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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CSHL Mechanisms of Eukaryotic Transcription<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

August 27, 2025<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

Haoran and Jon had a fantastic time presenting work at the CSHL MOET meeting, especially re-connecting with Young lab alums!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Summer Research Institute with Salma and Anish!<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

August 1, 2025<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

Salma and Anish conducted research with the lab as part of the CMU Summer Research Institute. In their project, they discovered specific RNA-binding proteins affect gene expression through their intriniscally disordered regions. Great job on the presentation to the department!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Deyuan joins the lab!<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

June 13, 2025<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

We welcome Deyuan Xu, Ph.D. student in Biological Sciences, to the lab!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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RNA Society Meeting in San Diego!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

May 30, 2025<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

Lydia presented on the lab's new work at the annual RNA Society meeting in San Diego. It was a popular poster!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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2nd Annual Steel City Condensate Club Symposium<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

May 22, 2025<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

We had a fantastic day filled with science and discussion from biologists, chemists, physicians, and computer scientists at CMU, Pitt, & NYU. And to top it all off, Mike Rosen from UT Southwestern gave an amazing Keynote address on the fine structure of nucleosomes within condensates. Already looking forward to next year!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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MCS wins the CMU Buggy Race!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

April 4, 2025<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

It was a close race against CIT, but the MCS faculty managed to maintain a lead and win.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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CMU Carnival celebrations<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

April 4, 2025<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

Emily and her cohort made an amazing Toy Story-themed booth for the Hollywood theme of CMU Carnival this year.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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The lab receives an award from the Shurl and Kay Curci Foundation!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

March 28, 2025<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

The lab received a funding award from the Shurl and Kay Curci Foundation<\/a> to investigate how RNA molecules regulate gene transcription in stem cells and cancer. We are extremely grateful and enthusiastic for the support of fundamental science!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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First PhD qualifying exams for the lab!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

February 15, 2025<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

Lydia and Haoran passed their PhD qualifying exams with flying colors. Congratulations!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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The lab gives a poster during PhD recruitment<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

February 6, 2025<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

Haoran and Lydia shared their research with PhD recruits. Great poster!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Undergraduates join the lab to conduct research<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

January 15, 2025<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

The lab welcomes CMU undergraduates Grant Mowry and Emily Wang! Grant and Emily will be working on making synthetic transcriptional condensates in cells.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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New state-of-the-art microscopy!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

January 8, 2025<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

The lab received the Zeiss Lattice SIM 5 system to start imaging subcellular processes with incredible spatial and temporal resolution.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Henninger Lab Holiday Party!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

December 14, 2024<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

Celebrating almost one year of the lab with great food and billiards<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Halloween!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

October 31, 2024<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

The lab dressed up as a Gibson cloning reaction with compatible fragments.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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The lab receives a Kaufman Foundation award!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

October 29, 2024<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

The lab received a Kaufman Foundation New Investigator Grant<\/a> from the Pittsburgh Foundation to explore a role for RNA in directing transcription. We are very grateful for the support of fundamental science!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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RNA Intrigues Biologist Jonathan Henninger<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

October 14, 2024<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

https:\/\/www.cmu.edu\/mcs\/news-events\/2024\/1014_new-hire-henninger.html<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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New preprint! Active RNA synthesis patterns nuclear condensates<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

October 13, 2024<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

Check out new work on bioRxiv!<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Master's student Arth joins the lab!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

September 1, 2024<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

The lab welcomes CMU Master's student Arth Banka to the lab!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Pirates game!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

August 28, 2024<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

The Henninger and Woolford labs enjoyed a Pirates game at PNC park. Although the Pirates ended up losing after a 10-3 initial lead, the Renegade hotdogs made up for it.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Happy RNA day!!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

August 1, 2024<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

The lab celebrated RNA day with a picnic joining the McManus, Woolford, and Kaplow labs outside of the Mellon Institute.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Aya and Shumin present their work as part of the CMU Summer Research Institute program<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

July 31, 2024<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

CMU undergrads Aygul Kerimova (CMU-Qatar) and Shumin Yi (CMU-Pittsburgh) presented their work with the lab as part of the Summer Research Institute program. Great work Aya and Shumin!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Ph.D. students Haoran and Lydia join the lab!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

April 17, 2024<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

The lab welcomes CMU graduate students Haoran Wang and Lydia Phillips to the lab! Haoran and Lydia are part of the CMU Ph.D. program in the Biological Sciences.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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CMU undergraduate students Sid and Kevin join the lab!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

March 20, 2024<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

The lab welcomes Sid Srivastava and Kevin Kim to the lab to conduct undergraduate research. Sid will be working on bioinformatic approaches to discover RNA-encoded regulatory elements, and Kevin will be working on investigating the role of RNA-binding proteins in transcription.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Bailey joins the lab!<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

March 18, 2024<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

We welcome Bailey Webster to the lab as a Research Associate!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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The lab celebrates Pi Day!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

March 14, 2024<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

The lab baked homemade pies and celebrated with the Armbruster and Ransey labs<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Dervla joins the lab!<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

February 26, 2024<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

We welcome Dervla Moore-Frederick to the lab as a Research Associate!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Jon gives a talk at the Genome Regulation through RNA Conference (Fusion) in Canc\u00fan, Mexico<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

February 13, 2024<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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The Henninger Lab opens!!<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

January 1, 2024<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-10","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/labs.bio.cmu.edu\/henninger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/labs.bio.cmu.edu\/henninger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/labs.bio.cmu.edu\/henninger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.bio.cmu.edu\/henninger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.bio.cmu.edu\/henninger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10"}],"version-history":[{"count":116,"href":"https:\/\/labs.bio.cmu.edu\/henninger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":578,"href":"https:\/\/labs.bio.cmu.edu\/henninger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10\/revisions\/578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/labs.bio.cmu.edu\/henninger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}