Enhancers are regulatory sequences contained in DNA that underlie a wide variety of human diseases when misregulated because they determine when and where a target gene will be expressed. Because these sequences are critical for driving proper gene expression during development and cellular transitions, they are maintained in an inaccessible and inactive state until the precise context for gene activation is reached.

Brennan, who is predoctoral researcher in the Zeitlinger Lab, aims to show how enhancers are made accessible and active by DNA-binding proteins called transcription factors during fruit fly development, which will provide insight into the mechanisms used by cells to regulate enhancer activity to control their gene expression programs. Because mechanisms of regulating gene expression are often used in similar ways by species across the animal kingdom, the identification of rules for gene regulation helps researchers gain a better understanding of regulation of the human genome in development and disease.

Funding of the fellowship comes from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development which is part of the National Institutes of Health.