Tyler B Jensen, PhD

Tyler is a seventh year MD/PhD student in the MSTP program and postdoctoral associate in the lab of Dr. Berna Sozen. He performed his PhD in the Genetics Department co-mentored by Dr. Siyuan Wang and Dr. Andrew Xiao (2020-2024). Tyler earned his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Northeastern University in 2017. During his undergraduate studies, he interned at Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals in 2014 working on tetracycline antibiotic development, and Epizyme Inc. in 2015, working on developing small molecule epigenetic inhibitors for molecularly defined cancers. In addition to his internships, Tyler worked in the lab of Dr. James Monaghan studying axolotls, working to understand the nervous system’s role in tissue regeneration. He is now studying chromatin biology during early embryonic development and helping build models of human embryogenesis. Tyler has been awarded the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) F30 for his work on histone variants in human embryonic development through the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). His recent work has identified the critical role of the histone H2A variant H2A.J in human trophoblast and embryonic progression. By understanding how the earliest stem cells organize their genome during development, we can identify governing principles of cell fate determination, and how to better help patients with recurrent pregnancy loss.