The Gorkin Laboratory

Emory University. Researching epigenome biology.

gorkin_square.jpg

1510 Clifton Road NE

Rollins Research Center, Room 1071

Atlanta, GA 30322

How does a single genetic blueprint give rise to the trillions of highly specialized cells in a human being? To carry out this amazing feat, our cells have an array of proteins — collectively referred to as epigenetic machinery — that layer epigenetic information on top of the genetic blueprint. Our lab uses genomic approaches to understand how epigenetic machinery works, and what happens when it malfunctions.

We are based in the Department of Biology at Emory University, and are part of the Genetics & Molecular Biology and BCDB graduate programs.

Our laboratory is committed to creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment for staff and trainees. See our full statement on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

selected publications

  1. BAF complexes maintain accessibility at stimulus-responsive chromatin and are required for transcriptional stimulus responses
    Alexander O. D. Gulka, Kihoon Alan Kang, Ziben Zhou, and David U. Gorkin
    bioRxiv, Mar 2026
    Preprint
  2. Single-cell chromatin accessibility identifies pancreatic islet cell type- and state-specific regulatory programs of diabetes risk
    Joshua Chiou, Chun Zeng, Zhen Cheng, Jee Yun Han, Michael Schlichting, and 15 more authors
    Nature Genetics, Apr 2021
  3. An atlas of dynamic chromatin landscapes in mouse fetal development
    David U. Gorkin, Iros Barozzi, Yuan Zhao, Yanxiao Zhang, Hui Huang, and 38 more authors
    Nature, Jul 2020
  4. Common DNA sequence variation influences 3-dimensional conformation of the human genome
    David U. Gorkin, Yunjiang Qiu, Ming Hu, Kipper Fletez-Brant, Tao Liu, and 8 more authors
    Genome Biology, Nov 2019
  5. A method to predict the impact of regulatory variants from DNA sequence
    Dongwon Lee, David U. Gorkin, Maggie Baker, Benjamin J. Strober, Alessandro L. Asoni, and 2 more authors
    Nature Genetics, Aug 2015
  6. The 3D genome in transcriptional regulation and pluripotency
    David U. Gorkin, Danny Leung, and Bing Ren
    Cell Stem Cell, Jun 2014
    Review
  7. Integration of ChIP-seq and machine learning reveals enhancers and a predictive regulatory sequence vocabulary in melanocytes
    David U. Gorkin, Dongwon Lee, Xylena Reed, Christopher Fletez-Brant, Seneca L. Bessling, and 4 more authors
    Genome Research, Nov 2012