Christopher Mason, Ph.D.

Professor of Physiology and Biophysics

  • Director, WorldQuant Initiative for Quantitative Prediction and WorldQuant Foundation Research Scholar
  • Professor of Computational Genomics in Computational Biomedicine in the Institute for Computational Biomedicine
  • Professor of Neuroscience in the Brain and Mind Institute (secondary appointment)

646-962-5643

1305 York Avenue, Room Y-13.15
New York, NY 10021

Lab website: http://www.masonlab.net

Techniques

Research Areas

Member of:

Research Summary:

We utilize computational and experimental methodologies to identify and characterize the essential genetic elements that guide the function of the human genome, with a particular emphasis on the elements that orchestrate the development of the human brain. Our lab creates detailed cell-specific molecular maps of genetic, epigenetic, transcriptional, and translational activity, creating a draft of the molecular recipe for the creation of the brain. We also develop methods to detect, catalog and functionally annotate variants in the genetic pathways that control developmental processes and how they are perturbed to create disease. We aim to understand of the functional elements of the human genome well enough to enable, eventually, the ability to repair, re-engineer, or fortify these genetic networks within human cells.

Recent Publications:

  1. Topper, MJ, Guarnieri, JW, Haltom, JA, Chadburn, A, Cope, H, Frere, J et al.. Lethal COVID-19 associates with RAAS-induced inflammation for multiple organ damage including mediastinal lymph nodes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2024;121 (49):e2401968121. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2401968121. PubMed PMID:39602262 .
  2. Guarnieri, JW, Kim, J, Wallace, DC, Mason, CE, Muratani, M, Beheshti, A et al.. Methodologies for Mitochondrial Omic Profiling During Spaceflight. Methods Mol Biol. 2025;2878 :273-291. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-4264-1_15. PubMed PMID:39546268 .
  3. Dewi, DAPR, Khalifa, HO, Khandar, H, Hisatsune, J, Kutuno, S, Yu, L et al.. Detection and genetic characterization of multidrug-resistant staphylococci isolated from public areas in an international airport. Sci Rep. 2024;14 (1):27738. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-79447-3. PubMed PMID:39532959 PubMed Central PMC11557577.
  4. Schubert, MG, Tang, T-C, Goodchild-Michelman, IM, Ryon, KA, Henriksen, JR, Chavkin, T et al.. Cyanobacteria newly isolated from marine volcanic seeps display rapid sinking and robust, high-density growth. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2024;90 (11):e0084124. doi: 10.1128/aem.00841-24. PubMed PMID:39470214 PubMed Central PMC11577773.
  5. Tong, X, Luo, D, Leung, MHY, Lee, JYY, Shen, Z, Jiang, W et al.. Diverse and specialized metabolic capabilities of microbes in oligotrophic built environments. Microbiome. 2024;12 (1):198. doi: 10.1186/s40168-024-01926-6. PubMed PMID:39415203 PubMed Central PMC11484240.
  6. Corti, G, Kim, J, Enguita, FJ, Guarnieri, JW, Grossman, LI, Costes, SV et al.. Author Correction: To boldly go where no microRNAs have gone before: spaceflight impact on risk for small-for-gestational-age infants. Commun Biol. 2024;7 (1):1339. doi: 10.1038/s42003-024-07022-7. PubMed PMID:39414932 PubMed Central PMC11484870.
  7. Corti, G, Kim, J, Enguita, FJ, Guarnieri, JW, Grossman, LI, Costes, SV et al.. To boldly go where no microRNAs have gone before: spaceflight impact on risk for small-for-gestational-age infants. Commun Biol. 2024;7 (1):1268. doi: 10.1038/s42003-024-06944-6. PubMed PMID:39369042 PubMed Central PMC11455966.
  8. McDaniel, JH, Patel, V, Olson, ND, He, HJ, He, Z, Cole, KD et al.. Development and extensive sequencing of a broadly-consented Genome in a Bottle matched tumor-normal pair. bioRxiv. 2024; :. doi: 10.1101/2024.09.18.613544. PubMed PMID:39345378 PubMed Central PMC11429686.
  9. Tierney, BT, Foox, J, Ryon, KA, Butler, D, Damle, N, Young, BG et al.. Towards geospatially-resolved public-health surveillance via wastewater sequencing. Nat Commun. 2024;15 (1):8386. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-52427-x. PubMed PMID:39333485 PubMed Central PMC11436780.
  10. McIntyre, CA, Grimont, A, Park, J, Meng, Y, Sisso, WJ, Seier, K et al.. Distinct clinical outcomes and biological features of specific KRAS mutants in human pancreatic cancer. Cancer Cell. 2024;42 (9):1614-1629.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.ccell.2024.08.002. PubMed PMID:39214094 PubMed Central PMC11419252.
  11. Gong, B, Li, D, Łabaj, PP, Pan, B, Novoradovskaya, N, Thierry-Mieg, D et al.. Targeted DNA-seq and RNA-seq of Reference Samples with Short-read and Long-read Sequencing. Sci Data. 2024;11 (1):892. doi: 10.1038/s41597-024-03741-y. PubMed PMID:39152166 PubMed Central PMC11329654.
  12. Porubsky, D, Dashnow, H, Sasani, TA, Logsdon, GA, Hallast, P, Noyes, MD et al.. A familial, telomere-to-telomere reference for human de novo mutation and recombination from a four-generation pedigree. bioRxiv. 2024; :. doi: 10.1101/2024.08.05.606142. PubMed PMID:39149261 PubMed Central PMC11326147.
  13. Etlin, S, Rose, J, Bielski, L, Walter, C, Kleinman, AS, Mason, CE et al.. The human microbiome in space: parallels between Earth-based dysbiosis, implications for long-duration spaceflight, and possible mitigation strategies. Clin Microbiol Rev. 2024;37 (3):e0016322. doi: 10.1128/cmr.00163-22. PubMed PMID:39136453 PubMed Central PMC11391694.
  14. Sandoval, TA, Salvagno, C, Chae, CS, Awasthi, D, Giovanelli, P, Marin Falco, M et al.. Iron Chelation Therapy Elicits Innate Immune Control of Metastatic Ovarian Cancer. Cancer Discov. 2024;14 (10):1901-1921. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-23-1451. PubMed PMID:39073085 PubMed Central PMC11452292.
  15. Bauer, BA, Schmidt, CM, Ruddy, KJ, Olson, JE, Meydan, C, Schmidt, JC et al.. A Multiomics, Molecular Atlas of Breast Cancer Survivors. Metabolites. 2024;14 (7):. doi: 10.3390/metabo14070396. PubMed PMID:39057719 PubMed Central PMC11279123.
  16. Rutter, LA, MacKay, MJ, Cope, H, Szewczyk, NJ, Kim, J, Overbey, E et al.. Protective alleles and precision healthcare in crewed spaceflight. Nat Commun. 2024;15 (1):6158. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-49423-6. PubMed PMID:39039045 PubMed Central PMC11263583.
  17. Iriondo, O, Mecenas, D, Li, Y, Chin, CR, Thomas, A, Moriarty, A et al.. Hypoxic Memory Mediates Prolonged Tumor-Intrinsic Type I Interferon Suppression to Promote Breast Cancer Progression. Cancer Res. 2024;84 (19):3141-3157. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-23-2028. PubMed PMID:38990731 PubMed Central PMC11444891.
  18. Al-Turki, TM, Maranon, DG, Nelson, CB, Lewis, AM, Luxton, JJ, Taylor, LE et al.. Telomeric RNA (TERRA) increases in response to spaceflight and high-altitude climbing. Commun Biol. 2024;7 (1):698. doi: 10.1038/s42003-024-06014-x. PubMed PMID:38862827 PubMed Central PMC11167063.
  19. Cope, H, Elsborg, J, Demharter, S, McDonald, JT, Wernecke, C, Parthasarathy, H et al.. Transcriptomics analysis reveals molecular alterations underpinning spaceflight dermatology. Commun Med (Lond). 2024;4 (1):106. doi: 10.1038/s43856-024-00532-9. PubMed PMID:38862781 PubMed Central PMC11166967.
  20. Mathyk, BA, Tabetah, M, Karim, R, Zaksas, V, Kim, J, Anu, RI et al.. Spaceflight induces changes in gene expression profiles linked to insulin and estrogen. Commun Biol. 2024;7 (1):692. doi: 10.1038/s42003-023-05213-2. PubMed PMID:38862620 PubMed Central PMC11166981.
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