(opens in a new window)

Gerd A. Blobel, MD/PhD

Professor of Pediatrics (Hematology)

  • The Frank E. Weise III Professor of Pediatrics, CHOP

Department: Pediatrics
Division: Hematology


Graduate Group Affiliations


Contact Information

316H Abramson Research Center
3615 Civic Center Blvd.

Philadelphia, PA 19104
Office: (215) 590-3988
Lab Phone: (215) 590-4461
Fax: (215) 590-4834
Email: BLOBEL@CHOP.EDU


I3H Keywords

  • Immune System Development and Function in Host Homeostasis
  • Systems Immunology and Genomics

Publications

Pubmed Link


Links


Education

  • MD
    Ruprecht - Karls - Universität, Heidelberg, Germany, 1986
  • PhD
    Rockefeller University, New York, 1991

Post-Graduate Training

  • Research Fellow
    Children’s Hospital, Boston, Harvard Medical School, 1991 - 1997

Description of Research Expertise

Research Interests
higher order chromatin structure, gene expression, epigenetics, globin genes, sickle cell disease, therapeutics

Description of Research
We study how genetic regulatory elements are organized spatially in the nucleus and how transcription programs and chromatin architecture are organized throughout the cell cycle to maintain lineage identity. A major effort in the lab is directed towards understanding the regulation of globin gene expression and developing approaches to perturb globin gene expression to ameliorate sickle cell disease. Our work bridges basic science with pre-clinical studies. We combine molecular, genomic, biochemical, and imaging approaches with studies in normal and gene targeted mice.

Lab Rotation Projects:
For information about rotation projects please contact me directly.

Lab personnel:
Aryan Ashraf, technician
Abhirup Bagchi, PhD, postdoctoral fellow
Rahul Bhansali, MD, postdoctoral fellow
Raymond Carter, graduate student
Chelsey Chen, combined degree student
Umer Farooq, PhD, postdoctoral fellow
Paul Kaminski, combined degree student
Eugene Khandros, MD-PhD, Assistant Professor
Sebastian Long, technician
Kristen Min, technician
Luisa Mori, PhD, postdoctoral fellow
Liz Traxler, MD-PhD, Assistant Professor
Siqing Wang, PhD, postdoctoral fellow
Xiang Wang, PhD, postdoctoral fellow
Xiaokang Wang, PhD, postdoctoral fellow
Michael Willcockson, MD-PhD, pediatrics fellow

Selected Publications

  • Traxler EA, Hotan Q, Shao Y, Komar C, Chen Q, Saari MS, Thrasher AJ, Yang S, Qin K, Wang M, Peslak SA, Abdulmalik O, Giardine BM, Keller CA, Hardison RC, Minn AJ, Khandros E, Shi J, Blobel GA. : Optimized CRISPR-Cas12a genome-wide screen reveals PTPA phosphatase pathway in fetal hemoglobin silencing Blood Jan 2026
  • Wang X, Aboreden NG, Cai Y, Lam JC, Henderson KA, Xiang J, Giardine BM, Hardison RC, Keller CA, Nagarajan L, Brandt SJ, Blobel GA. : Single-stranded DNA-binding proteins are essential components of the architectural LDB1 protein complex Mol Cell 85 : 3074-3089, Aug 2025
  • Aboreden NG, Lam JC, Goel VY, Wang S, Wang X, Midla SC, Quijano A, Keller CA, Giardine BM, Hardison RC, Zhang H, Hansen AS, Blobel GA. : LDB1 establishes multi-enhancer networks to regulate gene expression Mol Cell 85 : 376-393, Dec 2024
  • Zhao H, Lin Y, Lin E, Liu F, Shu L, Jing D, Wang B, Wang M, Shan F, Zhang L, Lam JC, Midla SC, Giardine BM, Keller CA, Hardison RC, Blobel GA, Zhang H. : Genome folding principles uncovered in condensin-depleted mitotic chromosomes Nature Genet 2024
  • Vermunt MW, Luan J, Zhang Z, Thrasher AJ, Huang A, Saari MS, Khandros E, Beagrie RA, Zhang S, Vemulamada P, Brilleman M, Lee K, Yano JA, Giardine BM, Keller CA, Hardison RC, Blobel GA. : Gene silencing dynamics are modulated by transiently active regulatory elements Mol Cell 83 : 715-730, Mar 2023
  • Huang P, Peslak SA, Ren R, Khandros E, Qin K, Keller CA, Giardine B, Bell HW, Lan X, Sharma M, Horton JR, Abdulmalik O, Chou ST, Shi J, Crossley M, Hardison RC, Cheng X, Blobel GA. : HIC2 controls developmental hemoglobin switching by repressing BCL11A transcription Nature Genet 2022
  • Lan X, Ren R, Feng R, Ly LC, Lan Y, Zhang Z, Aboreden N, Qin K, Horton JR, Grevet JD, Mayuranathan T, Abdulmalik O, Keller CA, Giardine B, Hardison RC, Crossley M, Weiss MJ, Cheng X, Shi J, Blobel GA. : ZNF410 Uniquely Activates the NuRD Component CHD4 to Silence Fetal Hemoglobin Expression Mol Cell 81 : 239-254, Jan 2021
  • Zhang D, Huang P, Sharma M, Keller CA, Giardine B, Zhang H, Gilgenast TG, Phillips-Cremins JE, Hardison RC, Blobel GA. : Alteration of genome folding via contact domain boundary insertion Nature Genet 52 : 1076-1087, Oct 2020
  • Zhang Haoyue, Emerson Daniel J, Gilgenast Thomas G, Titus Katelyn R, Lan Yemin, Huang Peng, Zhang Di, Wang Hongxin, Keller Cheryl A, Giardine Belinda, Hardison Ross C, Phillips-Cremins Jennifer E, Blobel Gerd A : Chromatin structure dynamics during the mitosis-to-G1 phase transition. Nature 576(7785) : 158-162, 12 2019
  • Grevet JD, Lan X, Hamagami N, Edwards CR, Sankaranarayanan L, Ji X, Bhardwaj SK, Face CJ, Posocco DF, Abdulmalik O, Keller CA, Giardine B, Sidoli S, Garcia BA, Chou ST, Liebhaber SA, Hardison RC, Shi J, and Blobel GA : Domain-focused CRISPR-screen identifies HRI as a fetal hemoglobin regulator in human erythroid cells Science 2018