Dr. Jessica Lang

Biography

Jessica Lang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. She holds a PhD from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Her research focuses on translational ovarian cancer, particularly on mutations and alterations in epigenetic regulator genes that lead to therapeutic vulnerabilities. She investigates prevalent mutations in chromatin remodeling complexes, such as SWI/SNF, which are frequently observed in various cancer subtypes, especially ovarian cancer. Her work has identified the significance of biallelic inactivation of SMARCA4 in small cell carcinoma of the ovary, hypercalcemic type, and the loss of ARID1A in ovarian clear cell carcinomas, among others. Overall, approximately 20% of human cancers exhibit alterations in SWI/SNF complexes, pointing towards their role in enhancer regulation and oncogene expression. Lang integrates profiling techniques, epigenetic marks, transcriptomics, and functional genetic approaches, including ECCITE-seq, to explore how SWI/SNF loss contributes to epigenetic dysfunction and the differential response to therapeutic interventions.

Research Interests