Rate My Professor Laurie Boyer

The Boyer laboratory investigates the molecular mechanisms by which complex gene regulatory circuits control cardiac cell fate decisions and how their dysregulation contributes to failed regeneration and cardiac disease. Key research areas include chromatin packaging and ATP-dependent remodeling to regulate lineage commitment during heart development, the role of these mechanisms in congenital heart defects, and the development of therapeutic strategies to reprogram cardiac cells for tissue repair following injury. The lab employs genomic, genetic, biochemical, and cell biological methods, including the engineering of 3D cardiac organoids to model mammalian heart development and perform phenotypic and drug screening. Boyer's influential publications include "Core Transcriptional Regulatory Circuitry in Human Embryonic Stem Cells" (Cell, 2005), "Polycomb complexes repress developmental regulators in murine embryonic stem cells" (Nature, 2006), "Braveheart, a long noncoding RNA required for cardiovascular lineage commitment" (Cell, 2013), and "Integrative analysis of 111 reference human epigenomes" (Nature, 2015). Her achievements have been recognized with awards such as the Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences (2008), Massachusetts Life Sciences Center New Investigator Award (2008), Smith Family Award for Excellence in Biomedical Science (2009), Irvin and Helen Sizer Career Development Award (2012), and American Heart Association Innovative Research Award (2013). She has delivered distinguished lectures including the Medicine by Design Distinguished Lecture (2017) and Cardiovascular Rising Star Distinguished Lecture (2017).