Bing Ren, PhD
Scientific Director & CEO, NYGC Professor of Genetics and Development, Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, and Systems Biology, Columbia UniversityAssociate Director in the Vagelos Institute for Basic Biomedical Science (Vagelos Institute) in VP&S, Columbia University
Dr. Ren leads the research and operational activities of the New York Genome Center (NYGC), which focus on the development of computational and experimental genomic methods and disease-focused research to better understand the genetic basis of cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and neuropsychiatric diseases. He also directs NYGC’s faculty, who lead independent research labs based at the Center. All of the core faculty members hold tenure-track joint appointments with one of the Center’s member institutions. This arrangement has been a driving force in connecting the NYGC with its founder members.
As a pioneer in the field of epigenomics, Dr. Bing Ren has devoted his career to unraveling the complexities of gene regulation and chromatin architecture. He is a Professor of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego) and the founding Director of the Center for Epigenomics. Dr. Ren’s research has led to fundamental discoveries in gene regulation, including the mapping of millions of regulatory elements within the human genome, elucidation of chromatin organization principles, and the functional interpretation of non-coding disease variants.
Dr. Ren has played a central role in multiple large-scale genomics initiatives, including the ENCODE Project, the NIH Roadmap Epigenomics Mapping Consortium, the International Human Epigenome Consortium, and the 4D Nucleome Consortium. His work has significantly advanced our understanding of how epigenetic modifications influence cellular identity and human disease, particularly in neurodegeneration and cancer.
Dr. Ren earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Harvard University in 1998 and completed postdoctoral training at the Whitehead Institute before joining the UC San Diego faculty in 2001. He has received numerous accolades, including the Chen Award for Distinguished Academic Achievement in Human Genetic and Genomic Research, the Ray Wu Award for Outstanding Leadership and Accomplishment in Biomedical Sciences, and election as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Beyond academia, Dr. Ren has translated his scientific discoveries into real-world applications by founding two biotechnology companies, Arima Genomics and Epigenome Technologies. His work continues to drive innovation in epigenome profiling and its applications in precision medicine.
