Andrew S. Belmont

Andrew S. Belmont is a Professor of Cell & Developmental Biology and Biophysics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, affiliated with the School of Molecular & Cellular Biology. His research focuses on chromatin structure, nuclear architecture, and gene regulation. He holds an A.B. in Physics from Princeton University, an M.D./Ph.D. in Biophysics from Temple University, and completed postdoctoral training at UCSF.

Belmont's lab develops cutting-edge methods like TSA-seq to map genome organization relative to nuclear compartments. Key areas include nuclear speckles' role in transcriptional regulation, chromatin dynamics during replication, and large-scale chromatin folding. He leads the 4D Nucleome Project, advancing spatial-temporal genome analysis. Recent work highlights nuclear speckle interactions with genes, heterochromatin localization variability, and interchromatin trafficking.

His lab's innovations include CRISPR-based locus tagging and BAC transgenesis tools. NIH grants fund his studies on nuclear structure and dynamics. Students like Pradeep Kumar and Jiah Kim have contributed to high-impact publications. Collaborators include global leaders in genomics and cell biology.