Rodrigo Romero
Assistant Professor
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center at Houston
Department of Genetics
The Romero laboratory studies the molecular and epigenetic mechanisms that govern lineage plasticity and therapy resistance in cancer. We seek to understand how tumor cells change identity in response to genetic perturbation, environmental stress, and therapeutic pressure. Using prostate and lung cancer as model systems, we investigate how tumor suppressors such as RB1, lineage-defining transcription factors, chromatin regulators, and the tumor microenvironment cooperate to reshape cell fate programs. Our research integrates genetically engineered mouse models (GEMMs), organoid models, CRISPR-based perturbation, lineage tracing, and screening approaches, chromatin profiling (ATAC-seq, CUT&RUN/ChIP-seq), single-cell transcriptomics, and multiplexed imaging combined with spatial transcriptomics to define how transcriptional and epigenetic networks control tumor evolution and clonal expansion in vivo.
Graduate students rotating in the lab may work on projects including 1) developing CRISPR-based screens to identify regulators of transcription factors that drive lineage transitions; 2) dissecting how RB1 and associated chromatin complexes maintain cell identity; or 3) establishing cutting-edge in vivo animal models to parse the contributions of immune and stromal components to disease progression, therapy response, and cell fate determination. Students will receive training in experimental design, in vivo tumor modeling, functional genomics, epigenomic profiling, quantitative data analysis, and scientific communication. The lab emphasizes teamwork, rigor, mechanistic thinking, progressive independence, and clear communication, preparing trainees to address fundamental questions at the intersection of cancer genetics, epigenetics, and tumor-microenvironment interactions.
Education & Training
PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2019