Ben Laufer

Ben Laufer

Principal Scientist

Genentech

Biography

Ben Laufer is a researcher with a focus on gene expression and neuroscience. He is a Principal Scientist in the Neuroinformatics Group in the Department of OMNI Bioinformatics at Genentech. He is also the editor for EpiGenie. Outside of the science world he enjoys hiking, swimming, and photography.

Interests
  • Bioinformatics
  • Gene Regulation
  • Neuroscience
Education

  • Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2021

    University of California Davis, USA

  • PhD in Cellular & Molecular Biology, 2016

    Western University, Canada

  • BSc (Hons) in Genetics, 2010

    Western University, Canada

News

Final postdoctoral fellowship publication.

       

First contribution to a publication from Genentech.

       

Penultimate postdoctoral fellowship publication.

Research

Click on each project to learn more.
Placental Footprints of Neurodevelopment
Cell-free fetal DNA and placenta contain a subset of differentially methylated regions that reflect brain DNA methylation profiles.
Placental Footprints of Neurodevelopment
Genetic Impacts on the Epigenome
Over-expression of DNMT3L and RUNX1 contributes to regional DNA hypermethylation and DNA hypomethylation in Down syndrome brain and blood, respectively.
Genetic Impacts on the Epigenome
Environmental Impacts on the Epigenome
DNA hypermethylation of the clustered protocadherins is a conserved signature in adult brains from a mouse model of prenatal alcohol exposure and in buccal swabs from human children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD).
Environmental Impacts on the Epigenome

Recent Publications

Benjamin I. Laufer, Yu Hasegawa, Zhichao Zhang, Casey E. Hogrefe, Laura A. Del Rosso, Lori Haapanen, Hyeyeon Hwang, Melissa D. Bauman, Judy Van de Water, Ameer Y. Taha, Carolyn M. Slupsky, Mari S. Golub, John P. Capitanio, Catherine A. VandeVoort, Cheryl K. Walker, Janine M. LaSalle (2022). Multi-omic brain and behavioral correlates of cell-free fetal DNA methylation in macaque maternal obesity models. Nature Communications.

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Shristi Pandey, Kimberle Shen, Seung-Hye Lee, Yun-An A. Shen, Yuanyuan Wang, Marcos Otero-Garcı́a, Natalya Kotova, Stephen T. Vito, Benjamin I. Laufer, Dwight F. Newton, Mitchell G. Rezzonico, Jesse E. Hanson, Joshua S. Kaminker, Christopher J. Bohlen, Tracy J. Yuen, Brad A. Friedman (2022). Disease-associated oligodendrocyte responses across neurodegenerative diseases. Cell Reports.

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Angela G. Maggio, Henry T. Shu, Benjamin I. Laufer, Chongfeng Bi, Yinglei Lai, Janine M. LaSalle, Valerie W. Hu (2022). Elevated exposures to persistent endocrine disrupting compounds impact the sperm methylome in regions associated with autism spectrum disorder. Frontiers in Genetics.

Cite DOI

Benjamin I. Laufer, Kari Neier, Anthony E. Valenzuela, Dag H. Yasui, Rebecca J. Schmidt, Pamela J. Lein, Janine M. LaSalle (2022). Placenta and fetal brain share a neurodevelopmental disorder DNA methylation profile in a mouse model of prenatal PCB exposure. Cell Reports.

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Yihui Zhu, J. Antonio Gomez, Benjamin I. Laufer, Charles E. Mordaunt, Julia S. Mouat, Daniela C. Soto, Megan Y. Dennis, Kelly S. Benke, Kelly M. Bakulski, John Dou, Ria Marathe, Julia M. Jianu, Logan A. Williams, Orangel J. Gutierrez Fugón, Cheryl K. Walker, Sally Ozonoff, Jason Daniels, Luke P. Grosvenor, Heather E. Volk, Jason I. Feinberg, M. Daniele Fallin, Irva Hertz-Picciotto, Rebecca J. Schmidt, Dag H. Yasui, Janine M LaSalle (2022). Placental methylome reveals a 22q13.33 brain regulatory gene locus associated with autism. Genome Biology.

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See all publications

Programs

DMRichR
DMRichR is an R package and executable for the preprocessing, statistical analysis, and visualization of differentially methylated regions (DMRs) and global methylation levels from CpG count matrices (Bismark cytosine reports).
DMRichR
CpG_Me
CpG_Me is a whole genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) pipeline for the alignment and QC of DNA methylation that goes from from raw reads (FastQ) to a CpG count matrix (Bismark cytosine reports).
CpG_Me

Science Communication

EpiGenie
EpiGenie was founded in 2007 as the first dedicated Epigenetics news source. I joined in 2013. Initially, my role was that of a technical writer. My role then matured to be almost entirely editorial, where I select and edit headlines.
EpiGenie

Videos

What is Epigenetics?

       

OHSU and Swift Low-pass WGBS Webinar

Media Coverage

  1. “Link between placenta and fetal brain may predict neurodevelopment disorders.” May 10, 2022. NIEHS Papers of the Month.
  2. “Placenta may hold clues for early autism diagnosis and intervention.” February 18, 2022. Medical Xpress.
  3. “Cord blood DNA can hold clues for early autism diagnosis and intervention.” October 22, 2020. Medical Xpress.
  4. “Different forms of autism may share pattern of chemical tags on DNA.” July 22, 2019. Spectrum.
  5. “FASD, methylation and miRNA: changing the “volume” on gene expression.” October 6, 2016. Western Science.
  6. “FASD and epigenetics.” November 30, 2015. Focus on Adoption Magazine.
  7. “Study confirms dangers of fetal alcohol exposure.” November 20, 2014. Western News.
  8. “In fetal alcohol study, IPA finds the signal in the noise.” May 22, 2014. Qiagen.
  9. “Epigenetic Effects of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure.” March 18, 2014. Germline Exposures.
  10. “Meet the next generation of social-media-savvy graduate students.” February 6, 2014. University Affairs.
  11. “Epigenetic patterns observed in schizophrenia therapy may open up venues for personalized medicine.” January 7, 2014. Technology.org.
  12. “A single drink can have a lifetime of consequences.” August 30, 2013. BMC On Biology.
  13. “Study explores fetal alcohol impact at molecular level.” Medical Xpress. July 19, 2013.

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