Biography

Laura Banaszynski is an Associate Professor in the Cecil H. and Ida Green Center for Reproductive Biology Sciences. She holds secondary appointments in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Children's Research Institute.

Dr. Banaszynski received her BS in Chemistry from The University of Notre Dame. She completed her PhD in Chemical & Systems Biology with Tom Wandless at Stanford University. She was then a Damon Runyon postdoctoral fellow with David Allis at The Rockefeller University. In 2015, Dr. Banaszynski joined the faculty of UT Southwestern. 

Dr. Banaszynski studies epigenetic contributions to gene expression and genome stability in mammalian systems. Her research focuses on the dynamic regulation of chromatin states at both coding and non-coding regions including the influence of histone variant incorporation on histone post-translational modification states. Her long-term goal is to improve our understanding of the chromatin-based mechanisms regulating fundamental cell-fate decisions in pluripotency and differentiation that are essential to our understanding of developmental processes.

Research Interest

  • Chromatin Biology
  • Developmental Gene Regulation
  • Histone Variants
  • Stem Cells

Publications

Featured Publications LegendFeatured Publications

PASK links cellular energy metabolism with a mitotic self-renewal network to establish differentiation competence.
Xiao M, Wu CH, Meek G, Kelly B, Castillo DB, Young LEA, Martire S, Dhungel S, McCauley E, Saha P, Dube AL, Gentry MS, Banaszynski LA, Sun RC, Kikani CK, Elife 2023 Apr 12
Chromatin Accessibility Analysis from Fresh and Cryopreserved Human Ovarian Follicles.
Shannon J, Sundaresan A, Bukulmez O, Jiao Z, Doody K, Capelouto S, Carr B, Banaszynski LA, Mol Hum Reprod 2022 Jun
Oncohistone Mutations Occur at Functional Sites of Regulatory ADP-ribosylation.
Huang D, Camacho CV, Martire S, Nagari A, Setlem R, Gong X, Edwards AD, Chiu SP, Banaszynski LA, Kraus WL, Cancer Res 2022 Apr

Honors & Awards

  • ACS Research Scholar Award
    (2020)
  • NETRF Peterson Research Investigator
    (2017)
  • Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas First Time Faculty Recruitment Award
    (2014-2018)
  • American Chemical Society Nobel Laureate Signature Award for Graduate Education in Chemistry
    (2009)
  • Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship
    Angelo Family Fellow (2008-2011)