Karen C. Glass
Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology
Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry
Full Member - Vermont Cancer Center (CC)
149 Beaumont Ave.
Firestone 362
Burlington, VT 05405
United States
- Ph.D., University of Vermont, 2005
Department of Pharmacology
Department of Biochemistry
BIO
Dr. Karen C. Glass received her Ph.D. from the Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics from the University of Vermont in 2005, and performed her postdoctoral training in Pharmacology at the University of Colorado Denver with Dr. Tatiana Kutatelaze where she became interested in understanding how chromatin reader domains recognize post-translational modifications found on the histone proteins of the nucleosome. Dr. Glass served as an Associate Professor in the Pharmaceutical Sciences Department at the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences prior to joining the Pharmacology Department at the University of Vermont College of Medicine in 2021. Dr. Glass is a member of the UVM Cancer Center, and has held an adjunct appointment in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Vermont College of Medicine since 2011.
The Glass lab is interested in understanding how epigenetic signaling regulates gene expression, and how alterations in these pathways are involved in disease development, particularly cancer, heart and infectious diseases. We are investigating the molecular mechanisms driving the recognition of histone post-translational modifications in order to identify new therapeutic strategies. The combinations of marks that make up the histone code have been difficult to decipher, and how multiple modifications modulate protein recognition is not well understood. The Glass lab aims to determine how physiologically abundant combinations of histone modifications regulate chromatin reader activity to influence disease progression. To address these research questions, a diversity of approaches in structural biology (nuclear magnetic resonance/X-ray crystallography, and cryo-electron microscopy), molecular biology, genomics, biochemistry, biophysics, and proteomics are applied.
Courses
PHRM 5400 Molecules and Medicine, Course Director
PHRM 3720/5720 Toxicology, Course Director
Publications
Awards and Achievements
National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, P01CA240685, Epigenetic Control and Genome Organization
National Science Foundation Mid-Career Award, Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, 2321501, MCA: “Application of Cryo-Electron Microscopy to Determine the Structure of Epigenetic Regulatory Complexes.”
Spark-VT Awardee 2025
Bio
Dr. Karen C. Glass received her Ph.D. from the Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics from the University of Vermont in 2005, and performed her postdoctoral training in Pharmacology at the University of Colorado Denver with Dr. Tatiana Kutatelaze where she became interested in understanding how chromatin reader domains recognize post-translational modifications found on the histone proteins of the nucleosome. Dr. Glass served as an Associate Professor in the Pharmaceutical Sciences Department at the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences prior to joining the Pharmacology Department at the University of Vermont College of Medicine in 2021. Dr. Glass is a member of the UVM Cancer Center, and has held an adjunct appointment in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Vermont College of Medicine since 2011.
The Glass lab is interested in understanding how epigenetic signaling regulates gene expression, and how alterations in these pathways are involved in disease development, particularly cancer, heart and infectious diseases. We are investigating the molecular mechanisms driving the recognition of histone post-translational modifications in order to identify new therapeutic strategies. The combinations of marks that make up the histone code have been difficult to decipher, and how multiple modifications modulate protein recognition is not well understood. The Glass lab aims to determine how physiologically abundant combinations of histone modifications regulate chromatin reader activity to influence disease progression. To address these research questions, a diversity of approaches in structural biology (nuclear magnetic resonance/X-ray crystallography, and cryo-electron microscopy), molecular biology, genomics, biochemistry, biophysics, and proteomics are applied.
Courses
PHRM 5400 Molecules and Medicine, Course Director
PHRM 3720/5720 Toxicology, Course Director
Publications
Awards and Achievements
National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, P01CA240685, Epigenetic Control and Genome Organization
National Science Foundation Mid-Career Award, Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, 2321501, MCA: “Application of Cryo-Electron Microscopy to Determine the Structure of Epigenetic Regulatory Complexes.”
Spark-VT Awardee 2025