 | A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. (June 2022) |
Chao-ting Wu | |
|---|---|
| 吳昭婷 | |
 Wu 8-Jul-2010 | |
| Born | January 24, 1954 New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Harvard University (BS, PhD) |
| Awards | National Institutes of Health Director's Pioneer Award |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Genetics, homology effects |
| Institutions | Harvard University |
| Thesis | (1984) |
| Doctoral advisor | William Gelbart |
| Website | www |
Chao-ting Wu (Chinese: 吳昭婷; pinyin: Wú Zhāotíng; born January 24, 1954) is an American molecular biologist. After training at Harvard Medical School in genetics with William Gelbart, at Stanford Medical School with David Hogness, and in a fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital in molecular biology, Wu began her independent academic career as an assistant professor in anatomy and cellular biology and then genetics at Harvard Medical School in 1993. After a period as a professor of pediatrics in the division of molecular medicine at the Boston Children's Hospital, she returned to the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School as a full professor in 2007.
Wu's research has focused on the role of chromosome behavior gene activity and inheritance, with emphasis on widespread homology effects, phenomena in which homology between chromosomes plays a role. Her studies have explored transvection in genetics, polycomb-group genes, chromatin pairing and remodeling, and the mechanisms of bridging promoter and enhancer elements within and between chromosomes. She also studies ultra-conserved elements (UCEs), proposing that these highly conserved sequences play a role in maintaining genome integrity, and has discussed potential opportunities for therapeutics harnessing properties of UCEs in many venues, including in TEDx and the Google-sponsored Solve for X program.
Wu has made significant contributions in the area of science education in genetics, across many age groups, through work with the Smithsonian Institution and the National Museum of Natural History and is founding director of the Personal Genetics Education Project, which works through schools, online curricula, teacher training, and producers and writers of the television and movie industry through involvement with the trade-supporting organization Hollywood, Health, & Society. She is daughter of author Nelson Ikon Wu, sister of actor Ping Wu, and colleague and spouse of Harvard and MIT scientist George M. Church.