Dr. Han completed his M.D. and Ph.D. at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, performing his graduate work in the laboratory of Jef Boeke. After graduation, he started his laboratory as a staff associate at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Department of Embryology, on the Johns Hopkins campus. He moved to Tulane University as an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 2013. Dr. Han’s main research interests are the molecular and cell biology of transposition, and the contribution of transposition to human health and disease.
Tulane Cancer Center Program Member in the Genetics Program
The Han lab has long term interests in understanding the ongoing evolutionary battle between genomic parasites and the host organism. They study LINE retrotransposons due to their spectacular success in colonizing the human genome (>500,000 copies). They use yeast, tissue culture, and mice to ask how LINEs replicate and how loss of transposon control may lead to disease phenotypes such as infertility or cancer.
