Stefan Taubert, Transcriptional Regulatory Networks

Canada Research Chair in Transcriptional Regulatory Networks

Stefan Taubert

Dr. Stephen Taubert, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Genetics, employs a multidisciplinary research program that aims to define how transcription—the process of decoding the information contained in the DNA—is regulated in health and disease.

Using classical and innovative genetic approaches, he studies how a molecular machine, the so-called Mediator, implements the DNA code. Importantly, Mediator is mutated in an array of human diseases, including certain cancers and neurodevelopmental disorders, but how and why the Mediator mutations cause disease remains poorly understood. Using the worm Caenorhabditis elegans and the house mouse as animal models, Dr. Taubert and his team define how Mediator regulates biological processes such as fat metabolism, organ development, and aging. By providing new insights into transcriptional regulation, this research may lead to new diagnostics and/or therapeutics to help cure human diseases.