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Applied ✓
Applied ✓
We uncover the post-transcriptional mechanisms governing stem cell potency and cell fate — opening new paths for regenerative medicine and cancer treatment.
Our lab employs diverse tools — from embryonic stem cells and 3D organoids to CRISPR editing and genome-wide sequencing — to understand how cells decide what to become.
We study how RNA processing—including editing, condensate formation, and ribosome dynamics—controls stem cell potency and cell fate. Using gastruloids and blastoids, we model early development to understand these mechanisms and explore ways to leverage them for new therapies.
Cell fate decisions rely on precise, timely changes in gene expression. Biomolecular condensates—membrane-less assemblies that concentrate DNA, RNA, and regulatory proteins—help orchestrate these transcriptional and post-transcriptional processes. Dysregulation of condensates can disrupt normal cell fate and contribute to disease. Our lab investigates how condensate assembly interfaces with gene regulatory networks to control both normal and pathological cell fate.
We study how post-transcriptional mechanisms guide hematopoietic stem cell fate and how RNA processing dysregulation drives blood cancers. We extend these findings to other adult stem cell types to uncover general principles of cell fate and identify new therapeutic strategies.
Bruno received his BSc and MSc in Molecular Biology from the University of Pavia and IUSS Pavia. He performed his graduate studies in the lab of Dr. Thomas Graf at the CRG (Barcelona), where he developed the first rapid, ultra-efficient system to reprogram B cells into iPSCs.
In 2016, he joined Dr. Konrad Hochedlinger's lab at Harvard University as an EMBO long-term postdoctoral fellow, focusing on post-transcriptional mechanisms in mammalian cell fate. Bruno started his lab at Baylor College of Medicine in November 2020.
He holds appointments in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, and the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center. He is a CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research.
Recent and featured papers from the lab. Complete list on PubMed →
Retreats, conferences, lab meetings, and the moments in between.
We are a young lab — our first generation of trainees is still in the making. Check back as they go on to do great things.
We are actively recruiting postdoctoral fellows with a focus on stem cells, cancer, and RNA biology.
Please send your CV and contact information for 3 references to bruno.distefano@bcm.edu
