Rate My Professor Lori Pile

Lori Pile is a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Wayne State University and serves as Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. She earned her Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics, Biochemistry, and Microbiology from the University of Cincinnati Medical School in 1998, followed by postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health from 1998 to 2003. Pile joined the Wayne State University faculty in 2004, advancing to full professor, and has been a Scientific Member of the Molecular Therapeutics Program at the Karmanos Cancer Institute since 2008. Her administrative roles include former Co-Director of the Maximizing Access to Research Careers Program, organizer of the Chromatin and Transcription Journal Club, faculty advisor for SciPol-Detroit, and member of the inaugural committee for Wayne State STEM Day.

Pile's research investigates the epigenetic control of gene expression through genome packaging by histone proteins. Her laboratory examines histone modifications including acetylation, phosphorylation, and methylation, with a focus on the SIN3 histone deacetylase complex's role in transcriptional repression. Using Drosophila melanogaster and lung cancer models, the work combines biochemical, molecular, and genetic techniques to uncover regulatory pathways influencing SIN3 activity and its effects on target genes, impacting cellular proliferation, development, viability, cancer epigenetics, and metabolic diseases. Key publications include 'The histone modification regulator, SIN3, plays a role in the cellular response to changes in glycolytic flux' (PLoS One, 2025), 'Analysis of the chromatin landscape and RNA polymerase II binding at SIN3-regulated genes' (Biology Open, 2023), 'Isoforms of the transcriptional cofactor SIN3 differentially regulate genes necessary for energy metabolism and cell survival' (Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Molecular Cell Research, 2022), 'A complex interplay between SAM synthetase and the epigenetic regulator SIN3 controls metabolism and transcription' (Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2020), and 'Systematic Analysis of SIN3 Histone Modifying Complex Components During Development' (Scientific Reports, 2018). She received the Wayne State University Career Development Award in 2012 for her research achievements and a $1.39 million grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences in 2011 to study chromatin regulation of cellular division.