Harmen Bussemaker

Biography

Harmen Bussemaker is an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. His credentials include a Lenfest Distinguished Columbia Faculty Award and a John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship. Dr. Bussemaker is known for his pioneering efforts to understand gene regulatory networks by integrating information about genome sequence, transcription factor binding, and gene expression data. Using high-throughput sequencing and affinity-based selection, the Bussemaker lab aims to quantify the DNA binding specificity of transcription factors at unprecedented resolution. He is also using biophysical models to infer cell-state specific changes in the regulatory activity of transcription factors from genomewide mRNA expression levels. Other efforts include using natural genetic variation to dissect complex cis-regulatory logic, and understanding how local chromatin context modulates the influence of transcription factors on its target genes.

Research Interest

Genomic Information Systems