Aaron Huebner
Education
- BS, 2005, University of California, Irvine, Molecular Biology
- PhD, 2012, University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, Developmental Biology
- Postdoc, 2021, Harvard University, Stem Cell Biology
Biography
Dr. Aaron Huebner received his PhD from the University of Colorado under the mentorship of Dr Dennis Roop where he uncovered an instructive role that amniotic fluid plays to ensure the formation of a functional epidermis at birth. Following his PhD, Aaron joined the lab of Konrad Hochedlinger, PhD at Harvard/MGH as an American Cancer Society Fellow where he studied the transcriptional, epigenetic, and cell signaling networks that drive cell fate decisions in pluripotent and adult stem cells. Aaron officially joined UCSF’s Department of Urology in 2024 to continue his research in the areas of cellular identity, specifically as it relates to early human development and tumorigenesis.
Research Interests
The collective set of genes expressed in any given cell determines its identity and function. Despite knowing this fundamental principle, we still do not understand the function of most human protein-coding genes across the many different types of cells present during development and homeostasis. Furthermore, we know even less as it relates to how these genes are regulated and how exogenous agents disrupt this regulation to facilitate transformation. To address these questions, the Huebner laboratory is utilizing a combination of scalable approaches for perturbing gene activity, single-cell molecular phenotyping, mouse models, and three-dimensional models of human pre and post-implantation development. Our goal is to combine the above-mentioned approaches to understand how human stem cells make critical cell fate decisions as well as determine how nonmutagenic tumor-promoting agents facilitate a loss of cell identity and transformation.
Academic Contact
1450 3rd St. Helen Diller Research Building Room 382
San Francisco, CA 94158