2018 Emerging Leader Award Recipient ($250,000 grant), Ting Wu, PhD
Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School; Director of the Consortium for Space Genetics; Director of the Personal Genetics Education Project

Dr. Ting Wu’s laboratory is dedicated to expanding our understanding of genome structure and function, focusing most heavily on the extraordinary relationship of the three-dimensional organization of the genome to genome inheritance and activity. Dr. Wu is the recipient of an NIH Director’s 2012 Pioneer Award as well as an NIH Director’s 2016 Transformative Research Award. Her project, detailed below, was selected for the 2018 Emerging Leader Award, a $250,000 grant.

Project Overview
Dr. Wu, along with Dr. George Church, will use her ELA award to establish the Genomic Lyme Disease Research Initiative at Harvard Medical School. This research initiative seeks to leverage the expansive expertise and significant resources of the Church and Wu Labs to build on their professional and personal interests in finding better ways to treat the disease. Their project includes a population health study analyzing a sample of individuals, both affected and unaffected by Lyme disease, to compare their genetic and immune variations in the hopes of better understanding the genetic underpinnings of the disease as well as finding targets for future therapies.