Katalin Fejes Tóth

I started my independent lab at Caltech in 2010. The focus of our research is at the intersection of chromatin and RNA biology. We are using an interdisciplinary approach combining biochemistry, molecular and cellular biology, genetics and computational biology to understand how chromatin influences gene expression and how ribonucleoprotein complexes regulate transcription and chromatin structure.  I obtained my medical degree at the Semmelweis University in Budapest Hungary in 2001. Subsequently I obtained a PhD in biochemistry and biophysics from the University of Heidelberg, Germany in 2004 in the lab of Karsten Rippe.  I conducted my postdoctoral training with Gregory Hannon at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. My work focused on the role of diverse small non-coding RNAs in regulation of gene expression. We described a new class of small non-coding RNAs in mammals that map to the promoters and the bodies of protein coding genes and might be involved in regulation of gene expression. Our discoveries led to the description of an alternative RNA capping process, which leads to 7mG capping of cleaved transcripts independently of transcription. I have also developed a number of different RNA cloning strategies that allowed the biochemical analysis of short cellular transcripts. My postdoctoral education provided me with an exceptional training in RNA biology, genomics and fly genetics.