Welcome to the Sommars Lab!
We are a biology research lab at Wheaton College led by Dr. Meredith Sommars, where we explore the fascinating world of gene regulation. Broadly, we are interested in understanding when, how, and why genes are told when to be turned on or off. We do this in the context of better understanding lipid, glucose, and amino acid metabolism in the liver and pancreatic alpha cell.
Our work sits at the intersection of genetics, molecular biology, and bioinformatics. We use a combination of wet-lab techniques and computational approaches to understand how transcription factor proteins shape gene expression programs, with a particular focus on metabolism and how the body responds to changes in diet and energy demands.