Ienglam Lei, Ph.D. Email: lei.ienglam@mayo.edu
Bio: Dr. Lei is currently an Assistant Professor of Physiology and Biomedical Engineering at the Mayo Clinic. He graduated from Peking University with a degree in Life Sciences and subsequently earned a Ph.D. in Developmental Molecular Genetics from the University of Hong Kong. His interest in cardiovascular epigenetics was further developed with postdoctoral training at Harvard University (Massachusetts General Hospital) and the University of Michigan. He recently received an American Heart Association Career Development Award to support his research.
Research focus: Dr. Lei has a research focus on understanding the mechanisms of heart failure. In particular, he studies the epigenetic aspects of heart failure progression. Another key aspect of his research program is to develop novel therapeutic agents to improve cardiac function through cell-specific drug delivery using synthetic biology techniques.
Personal interests: When not in the laboratory, Ienglam enjoys spending family time with his wife and son. He also likes playing Asian chess, watching movies and trying new foods.
Select publications:
Lei I, Huang W, Noly PE, Naik S, Ghali M, Liu L, Pagani FD, Abou El Ela A, Pober JS, Pitt B, Platt JL, Cascalho M, Wang Z, Chen YE, Mortensen RM, Tang PC. Metabolic reprogramming by immune-responsive gene 1 up-regulation improves donor heart preservation and function. Sci Transl Med. 2023 Feb 8;15(682):eade3782. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.ade3782. Epub 2023 Feb 8. PMID: 36753565.
Lei I, Tian S, Gao W, Liu L, Guo Y, Tang P, Chen E, Wang Z. Acetyl-CoA production by specific metabolites promotes cardiac repair after myocardial infarction via histone acetylation. Elife. 2021 Dec 23;10:e60311. doi: 10.7554/eLife.60311. PMID: 34939931; PMCID: PMC8763402.
Lei I, Wang Z, Chen YE, Ma PX, Huang W, Kim E, Lam HYK, Goldstein DR, Aaronson KD, Pagani FD, Tang PC. "The Secret Life of Human Donor Hearts": An Examination of Transcriptomic Events During Cold Storage. Circ Heart Fail. 2020 Apr;13(4):e006409. doi: 10.1161/CIRCHEARTFAILURE.119.006409. Epub 2020 Apr 8. PMID: 32264717.
Lei I, Tian S, Chen V, Zhao Y, Wang Z. SWI/SNF Component BAF250a Coordinates OCT4 and WNT Signaling Pathway to Control Cardiac Lineage Differentiation. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2020 Jan 22;7:358. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2019.00358. PMID: 32039194; PMCID: PMC6987383.
Lei I, West J, Yan Z, Gao X, Fang P, Dennis JH, Gnatovskiy L, Wang W, Kingston RE, Wang Z. BAF250a Protein Regulates Nucleosome Occupancy and Histone Modifications in Priming Embryonic Stem Cell Differentiation. J Biol Chem. 2015 Jul 31;290(31):19343-52. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M115.637389. Epub 2015 Jun 12. PMID: 26070559; PMCID: PMC4521052.
Lei I, Gao X, Sham MH, Wang Z. SWI/SNF protein component BAF250a regulates cardiac progenitor cell differentiation by modulating chromatin accessibility during second heart field development. J Biol Chem. 2012 Jul 13;287(29):24255-62. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M112.365080. Epub 2012 May 23. PMID: 22621927; PMCID: PMC3397851.
