Position(s):
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Bioscience & Biotechnology
Secondary Appointment, Dept. of Biochemistry & Molecular
     Biology, Drexel University College of Medicine
Adjunct Assistant Professor, The Wistar Institute

Office: 313 Stratton Hall
Lab: 310 Stratton Hall

Phone: (215) 895-1643 (Office)
            (215) 895-6885 (Lab)

Email: msl27@drexel.edu

B.S. - University of Notre Dame
Ph.D. - University of Chicago

Courses Taught

BIO432/BIO632, Advanced Cell Biology
BIO331/631 Bioinformatics I
BIO333/633 Bioinformatics I Laboratory
BIO449 Recombinant DNA Laboratory

The focus of my research is on the chromatin-based mechanism that control human gene expression and how this is diverted in disease and different cancer types. Chromatin proteins serve as the primary level of control of DNA information in eukaryotes and play multiple roles in regulating gene expression and other genomic functions such as DNA replication, recombination and repair. The heterochromatin protein 1 family (HP1 a, b, g) is a group of highly conserved, small chromatin proteins that are associated frequently, though not exclusively, with gene silencing and have been linked to cancers in humans. The major research thrust of my laboratory is to understand how the different HP1 protein complexes exert their effects on genes and other information encoded in DNA. In addition, a collaborative bioinformatics project has been initiated to comprehensively describe the interactions among all human chromatin proteins in order to gain a global view of chromatin regulation in cells and understand how perturbations lead to disease.

To view some of Dr. Lechner's published work [...click here...]

Post-Docs and Graduate Students

Daniel Keter: Investigation of functional interaction between NIPBL and HP1 proteins and impact
                   on Cornelia de Lange Syndrome.
Andrew Lo: Construction, visualization and analysis of an interactome describing human 
                  chromatin proteins.
Taotao Lao:  Analysis of chromosomal, nuclear and cell cycle defects associated with NIPBL mutations.

Personal/Laboratory Website(s):