Ryan Mohan, Ph.D., has joined the Department of Pharmacology at the Wayne State University School of Medicine as an associate professor.

Originally from Canada, Dr. Mohan received his doctoral degree from the Western University School of Physiology. He completed postdoctoral training in the lab of Jerry Workman, Ph.D., at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, in Kansas City.

His thesis, "Regulation of DNA damage processing by covalent modification of Thymine DNA glycosylase,” detailed his discovery of how post-translational modifications control function of proteins at the interface between gene regulation and DNA repair. The studies have implications for regulation of cytosine methylation, carcinogenesis and for regulation of stem cell identity.

Dr. Mohan’s areas of expertise include neurodegeneration, DNA repair, cytoskeleton, cell identity, protein complexes, mass spectrometry, aging, chromatin, post-translational modification, circadian rhythm and cancer. His ongoing work leverages naturally occurring disease-causing mutations as models to reveal molecular functions of protein complexes important for human health.

He is pursuing research to discover new regulators of cell identity and move this work into the nervous system to perform comparative analysis. His study continues to provide new insight into co-regulation of gene expression and maintenance of cell identity.