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. Yin, Y, Xu, R, Makarczyk, MJ, Liu, JJ, Liu, S, Shi, MZ et al.. Kaempferol Attenuates Spaceflight-Associated Knee Cartilage Degradation by Targeting NOX4-Mediated Mitochondrial Dysfunction. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2026; :e76477. doi: 10.1002/advs.76477. PubMed PMID:42423501 PubMed Central PMC13348333.
  2. Davis, ET, Afshin, EE, Stratigakis, N, Bard, JE, Sharpe, J, Zhang, Q et al.. Microbial characterization of oral microbiome in patients with open-angle glaucoma. Sci Rep. 2026; :. doi: 10.1038/s41598-026-59687-1. PubMed PMID:42399329 .
  3. Lewy, T, Sierra, MA, Pourshadi, N, Hoffmann, HH, Dinnon, KH 3rd, Gola, A et al.. Brain endothelial cells orchestrate a neuroprotective antiviral state in the CNS in response to peripheral viral pattern sensing. Immunity. 2026; :. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2026.06.009. PubMed PMID:42392076 .
  4. Caruso, KE, Kleinman, AS, Darrow, C, Dieser, M, Smith, HJ, Chin, CR et al.. Five genome sequences of bacterial environmental isolates from Gilkey Glacier, Juneau Icefield, Alaska. Microbiol Resour Announc. 2026; :e0142025. doi: 10.1128/mra.01420-25. PubMed PMID:42390447 .
  5. Nachman, R, Kopacz, A, Unkenholz, C, Chai, J, Ruiz, A, Valencia, I et al.. Spatial remodeling of bone marrow architecture defines tissue-state signatures of disease activity and therapeutic response in myelodysplastic neoplasms. Leukemia. 2026; :. doi: 10.1038/s41375-026-03029-7. PubMed PMID:42380663 .
  6. Zhang, WZ, Kim, K, Bhatia, D, Faherty, L, Simmons, W, Kallinos, E et al.. Targeting macrophage ferritin heavy chain mitigates ferroptosis and lung injury in experimental acute respiratory distress syndrome. Nat Commun. 2026; :. doi: 10.1038/s41467-026-74828-w. PubMed PMID:42364999 .
  7. Appleton, E, Korover, N, Hong, K, Ambriz-Peña, X, Tanaka, Y, Ashkenazy-Titelman, A et al.. Derivation of elephant induced pluripotent stem cells. Nat Methods. 2026;23 (7):1399-1410. doi: 10.1038/s41592-026-03136-4. PubMed PMID:42332088 .
  8. Gao, X, Sanui, A, Rasmika Dewi, DAP, Lucaci, AG, Mason, CE, Suzuki, H et al.. Shotgun metagenomic dataset of surface microbiomes at a train station in Shinagawa, Tokyo. BMC Genom Data. 2026; :. doi: 10.1186/s12863-026-01451-5. PubMed PMID:42286497 .
  9. Healy, HG, Hoar, C, Ahmed, W, Bibby, K, Bivins, A, Bowes, DA et al.. Wastewater Surveillance to Inform Cancer Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Interventions. Environ Sci Technol. 2026;60 (23):16390-16401. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.6c01391. PubMed PMID:42239995 .
  10. Lei, H, Du, S, Li, C, Yung, L, Wang, P, Leung, LY et al.. Sustained Chlorination of Hospital Surfaces Restructures the Microbiome and Virome and Diversifies Resistance Genes. Environ Sci Technol. 2026;60 (23):16514-16525. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.6c01505. PubMed PMID:42237904 .
  11. Sharma, G, Munteanu, V, Ghiasi, NM, Mahanta, U, Banerjee, J, Varma, S et al.. Towards a decentralized future for open-science databases. Nat Genet. 2026;58 (7):1451-1455. doi: 10.1038/s41588-026-02606-x. PubMed PMID:42156561 .
  12. Schmidt, MA, Schmidt, JC, Schmidt, CM, Jones, JA, Mason, CE. Precision Medicine in Astronauts: Principles and Targets in Molecular Assessment. Methods Mol Biol. 2026;3000 :311-346. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-5174-2_16. PubMed PMID:42151686 .
  13. Willett, JDS, Kim, J, Sakharkar, A, Park, J, Agyemang, AA, Saygili, EA et al.. The Data Science of Health in Space. Annu Rev Biomed Data Sci. 2026; :. doi: 10.1146/annurev-biodatasci-092724-045605. PubMed PMID:42149965 .
  14. Wagner, J, Keskus, AG, Oshima, KK, Ranallo-Benavidez, TR, McDaniel, J, Sikic, M et al.. A complete human pancreatic cancer genome. bioRxiv. 2026; :. doi: 10.64898/2026.05.01.722316. PubMed PMID:42146349 PubMed Central PMC13174521.
  15. Hu, M, Liu, DA, Wortzel, I, Collier, P, Nelson, TM, Foox, J et al.. Activated T cell extracellular vesicle DNA transfer enhances antigen presentation and anti-tumor immunity. Cancer Cell. 2026;44 (5):965-982.e12. doi: 10.1016/j.ccell.2026.03.023. PubMed PMID:42066762 PubMed Central PMC13215210.
  16. Li, Y, Wei, C, Yang, W, Wang, H, Robinson, A, Peshek, I et al.. Spatial transcriptomics atlas of inflammatory bowel disease to guide implementation in research consortiums and clinical trials. Nat Commun. 2026;17 (1):. doi: 10.1038/s41467-026-72482-w. PubMed PMID:42049732 PubMed Central PMC13328602.
  17. Burke, M, Kara, G, Holcomb, M, Mason, C, Villapol, S. Simulated spaceflight disrupts the immune-gut-brain axis and drives sex-dependent neuroinflammation, axonal injury, and behavioral deficits. bioRxiv. 2026; :. doi: 10.64898/2026.04.09.717543. PubMed PMID:42039636 PubMed Central PMC13104848.
  18. Pelzer, B, Meydan, C, Spiegel, IM, Karagiannidis, I, Xia, M, Teater, M et al.. SPEN loss drives extra-follicular diffuse large B cell lymphoma with female-specific lethality and therapeutic vulnerabilities. Cancer Discov. 2026; :. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-25-1458. PubMed PMID:42013317 PubMed Central PMC13197974.
  19. Couto-Rodriguez, M, Danko, DC, Wells, HL, Rey, S, Jirau Serrano, X, Fidler, G et al.. Analytical validation of a highly accurate and reliable next-generation sequencing-based urine assay. Microbiol Spectr. 2026;14 (6):e0202625. doi: 10.1128/spectrum.02026-25. PubMed PMID:42012213 PubMed Central PMC13227982.
  20. Martini, R, Tijjani, A, Founta, K, Cha, D, Awai, A, Maurice, S et al.. African Pan Genome Contigs Expose Biologically Relevant Sequence Still Hidden from Human Reference Frameworks. bioRxiv. 2026; :. doi: 10.1101/2025.08.15.670543. PubMed PMID:41993395 PubMed Central PMC13082152.
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