He was named a MacArthur ‘genius’ fellow for research on gene regulation, but still has imposter syndrome By Anika NayakOct. 13, 2023

He was named a MacArthur ‘genius’ fellow for research on gene regulation, but still has imposter syndrome By Anika NayakOct. 13, 2023 https://www.statnews.com/2023/10/13/jason-buenrostro-macarthur-genius-fellow-gene-regulation/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=278149414&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8xt2KrLXDPCDtHnsAZLx_1oQX7OL5pH40d3VeGi86IzS4g8wV6F5X7fPDlRbi6sJlFCbloifQF9c6QTdjsizGHJ-ZB0Q&utm_content=278149414&utm_source=hs_email He’s a Harvard professor and the youngest MacArthur “genius” this year, but he still concedes he has impostor syndrome. Jason Buenrostro (above), 35, an associate professor of stem cell and regenerative biology, said it dates to growing up as a Latinx first-generation college student. “It even happens now — I’ll walk into a room and be like, do I really deserve to be here? Especially when I am in a room with people who don’t look like me,” he told STAT’s Anika Nayak. “A lot of people — faculty and staff at Harvard — feel the same way.” His MacArthur award honors his pioneering technique for studying how cells regulate gene expression, known as ATAC-seq. One application is studying how cancer cells grow. “ATAC-seq can be used to identify what genes are on and what genes are off in the cell. And by understanding why these genes may be on, we can think about how to intervene.” Read the full interview.