Lab

R. Babak Faryabi is currently an Associate Professor of Pathology and Cancer Biology at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. Babak received his bachelor and master of science degrees from Sharif University of Technology in Iran. He then moved to Texas A&M University, where he  received his Ph.D. in computational biology under the supervision of Drs. Edward Dougherty and Jean-Francois Chamberland. Babak then joined the laboratory of Dr. Andre Nussenzweig at the NIH as a postdoctoral fellow to study the mechanisms of epigenetic dysregulation in B cell lymphomas. As an independent investigator, Babak uses systems-based approaches to understand molecular underpinning of genome folding and transcriptional addiction in cancer. He is the recipient of a number of awards including the Susan G. Komen Foundation Career Catalyst Research Award, Cooper Scholar Award, and Concern Foundation Conquer Cancer Now Award. He serves as an Associate Editor of Breast Cancer Research  journal.

Yeqiao is a postdoctoral researcher studying underlying mechanisms of genome folding reorganization during drug resistance development in Notch-mutated cancers. During her PhD studies at the University of Pennsylvania, Yeqiao dissected the cause-and-effect relationships between genome folding and Notch-signaling to elucidate molecular mechanisms underlying pathogenesis and treatment response in Notch-mutated cancers. Yeqiao has received her BSc and MSc in biotechnology from the Sun Yat-sen University and the University of Pennsylvania, respectively, where she investigated epigenetic mechanisms of transcription regulation in B cell lymphomas.

Ilias is a postdoctoral researcher studying mechanisms of 3D cancer genome. Before joining the Faryabi lab, he studied the spatial regulation of transcription in cancer and circadian cycle, with a particular focus on the expression of the oncogene MYC, in the Göndör Lab at the Karolinska Institute, Sweden. Ilias received his BSc, MSc, and PhD from the University of Crete in Greece, the Aix-Marseille University in France, and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, respectively.

Tobias has received his BSc, MSc and PhD all from the Justus Liebig University Giessen in Germany. Tobias is interested in understanding the role of epigenetic heterogeneity in cancer progression. Before joining the Faryabi Lab, he studied transcription factor RBPJ’s dual functionality as a repressor and activator within the Notch signaling pathway to unravel the complex regulatory potential of RBPJ in mediating Notch signaling. To this end, he analyzed changes in the chromatin environment and the associated transcriptional response. During his MSc, Tobias researched the crosstalk of hypoxia and the Notch signaling pathway.

Ashkan Bigledi joined the Faryabi lab as a PhD student through Drexel University. He obtained his BSc and MSc in biotechnology from the University of Rhode Island and Harvard University, respectively. Ashakan specializes in computational applications in clinical oncology and his research focuses on pathogenicity prediction of somatic variations in patient populations.

Dalia is a Research Specialist in the Faryabi Lab. She graduated from Penn State University in 2023 with a BA in Biochemistry. Dalis is interested in using mouse models to understand role of EBF1 in B cell development.

As a bioinformatician in the Faryabi Lab, Noah is developing pipelines for integrative analysis of 1D and 3D epigenomic data in cancer. He received his BSc in Computational Biology from the University of Pittsburgh in 2022. His undergraduate research focused on molecular docking and computer-aided drug design, as well as protein structure determination. Noah’s interests span a wide range of bioinformatics applications, particularly how bioinformatics toolkits can be used to accurately predict molecular drivers of genome folding reorganization.

Nilanjana is Project Manager and Data Analyst working on Human Pancreas Analysis Program (HPAP). Following her B.S and M.S in Biomedical Genetics from VIT University, India, Nilanjana joined Drexel University where she graduated in Master of Public Health. Prior joining our lab, Nilanjana conducted data analysis and visualization in projects studying health disparity in marginalized populations. She currently continues her education in Biomedical Informatics Certificate at the University of Pennsylvania with the focus on similar areas.

Dongbo is a database developer working on Human Pancreatic Analysis Project (HPAP). After completing his graduate studies in chemistry at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dongbo became interested in computer science and completed his M.S in Computer Science at the University of Pennsylvania. Dongbo’s technical interests spans a broad area of computer science including scientific algorithmic design, web development as well as C++ and Python programming on Unix/Linux.

Yimin is an application developer in the Faryabi lab working on Human Pancreas Analysis Program (HPAP). She obtained her B.E. in Chemical Engineering from East China University of Science and Technology, and her master’s degree in Computer and Information Technology from the University of Pennsylvania. Her technical interests include software development and responsive website design and development using HTML/CSS/JavaScript and modern frameworks/libraries such as React.js.

Brent is an undergraduate student in the Vagelos Life Sciences and Management Program. Since joining the Faryabi Lab three years ago, Brent has focused on elucidating how certain motifs of chromatin folding contribute to cellular phenotype and drug resistance when perturbed.