Pedersen Lab
LABORATORY OF MicroRNA Biology and Blood Brain Barrier
Principal Investigator: Irene Pedersen
IRENE MUNK PEDERSEN, PHD
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
The research interest of the Pedersen laboratory is based on the recent discovery of microRNAs (miRs), which has revolutionized our understanding of gene control. miRs play key roles in controlling development, stem cell fates and differentiation, and mutations in human miR genes have been linked to human disease.
The main focus of the Pedersen laboratory is to investigate the role of specific miRs in normal cells and explore how to use RNA molecules (miRs and mRNAs) as tools to regulate/counteract potential dysregulation in neurological disorders and cancer. A second area of research interest of the lab is to evaluate miRs function as novel restriction factors of mobile elements and retrovirus (LINE-1, hERVs and HIV-1) in human cells.
Dr. Pedersen received her BS and MS in Molecular Biology from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark in 1999 and 2000, her Ph.D. in 2002 working in Dr. John C Reed’s lab, at the Burnham Institute in La Jolla on apoptosis resistance and her post-doctoral studies in Dr. Michael David’s lab at UCSD in La Jolla focused on cytokine regulated miRs. Dr. Pedersen started her own lab at UCI in Irvine in 2011 continuing her work on miRs roles in stem cell reprogramming, neurological disorders (stroke, Alzheimer’s disease) tumorigenesis and viral disease. Dr. Pedersen was the recipient of an NIH Pathway to the Independence award (K01) from NCI and currently holds an R01 from NINDS. Dr. Pedersen joined the Scintillon Institute faculty as a tenured Associate Professor in September 2019.