Research Interests
Welcome! We are a basic science research laboratory in the Department of Dermatology, Cell & Developmental Biology and Cellular & Molecular Biology program at the University of Michigan. Our interests are in discovering novel and fundamental insights related to skin and hair follicle biology, epithelial stem cells and cancer.
Our skin is a vital organ of great intrigue due to its immense complexity. Because of this complexity, a multitude of diseases can arise when cellular processes become defective. Some of these diseases are typically mild and temporary, such as acne. Others can be life-threatening, such as ichthyosis. Still others, such as basal cell carcinoma (BCC), are fascinating because of their subversion of key developmental pathways such as Hedgehog signaling. All these diseases are related to studies currently ongoing in our lab. In addition, we are keenly interested in studying how hair follicles grow, and how different stem cells in the skin coordinate their behaviors to drive hair regeneration. Our research is supported by funds from the NIH, the American Cancer Society, and the Leo Foundation.
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Recent Publications
Niche-specific factors dynamically regulate sebaceous gland stem cells in the skin.
Veniaminova NA, Grachtchouk M, Doane OJ, Peterson JK, Quigley DA, Lull MV, Pyrozhenko DV, Nair RR, Patrick MT, Balmain A, Dlugosz AA, Tsoi LC, Wong SY.
Developmental Cell. 2019 Nov 4; 51:1-15.
Tumor architecture and notch signaling modulate drug response in basal cell carcinoma.
Eberl M, Mangelberger D, Swanson JB, Verhaegen ME, Harms PW, Frohm M, Dlugosz AA, Wong SY.
Cancer Cell. 2018 Feb 12;33(2):229-243.
Loss of Gata6 causes dilation of the hair follicle canal and sebaceous duct.
Swanson JB, Vagnozzi AN, Veniaminova NA, Wong SY.
Experimental Dermatology. 2018 Apr;28(4):345-349.
Mesler AL, Veniaminova NA, Lull MV, Wong SY.
Cell Reports. 2017 Apr 25;19(4):809-821.
Vagnozzi AN, Reiter JF, Wong SY.
Cell Cycle. 2015;14(21):3408-17.
Peterson SC, Eberl M, Vagnozzi AN, Belkadi A, Veniaminova NA, Verhaegen ME, Bichakjian CK, Ward NL, Dlugosz AA, Wong SY.
Cell Stem Cell. 2015 Apr 2;16(4):400-12.
Veniaminova NA, Vagnozzi AN, Kopinke D, Do TT, Murtaugh LC, Maillard I, Dlugosz AA, Reiter JF, Wong SY.
Development. 2013 Dec;140(24):4870-80.
2009-2011
Wounding mobilizes hair follicle stem cells to form tumors.
Wong SY, Reiter JF.
Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2011 Mar 8;108(10):4093-8.
Primary cilia can both mediate and suppress Hedgehog pathway-dependent tumorigenesis.
Wong SY, Seol AD, So PL, Ermilov AN, Bichakjian CK, Epstein EH Jr, Dlugosz AA, Reiter JF.
Nature Medicine. 2009 Sep;15(9):1055-61.
Current Lab Members
Sunny Wong
Associate Professor, Department of Dermatology, and Cell & Developmental Biology
Natalia Veniaminova
Research Associate
Kenny Trieu
Graduate Student, Department of Cell & Developmental Biology
Jamie Peterson
Laboratory Technician
Rachel Benedeck
Laboratory Technician
Virginia Ju
Medical Student
Owen Doane
Undergraduate Student
Karen Delaney Myers
Administrative Assistant
Previous Trainees
Kenny Trieu, CDB graduate student (2018- )
Arlee Mesler, CMB graduate student (2014-2018) (Ph.D. '18)
Jacob Swanson, laboratory technician (2015-2017)
Markus Eberl, postdoctoral scholar (2012-2017)
Madison Lull, undergraduate research (2013-2017)
Austen Weaver, undergraduate research (2015-2016)
Shelby Peterson-Unsworth, CMB graduate student (2013-2017) (Ph.D. '17)
Nadia Danienta, undergraduate research (2012)
Natalia Veniaminova, postdoctoral scholar (2012- )
Alicia Vagnozzi, laboratory technician (2012-2015)
Rotation Students: Takuya Kaneko, Morgan Gingerich, Samantha Devenport, Fatima Javed