Jun Pek

PEK Jun Wei received his B.Sc. (Hons) (2008) and Ph.D. (2011) from the National University of Singapore (NUS). He did his graduate research in the laboratory of Dr. Toshie Kai at the Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (TLL) where he studied the roles of nuage and small RNAs in the Drosophila germline. In 2012, he joined the laboratories of Drs. Joseph Gall and Allan Spradling at the Carnegie Institution for Science (Department of Embryology) as a Carnegie Collaborative Fellow. He developed a research program to study a novel class of noncoding RNAs (stable intronic sequence RNAs or sisRNAs) in Drosophila. He was later named a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Fellow of the Life Sciences Research Foundation and awarded a fellowship from the Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund. He returned to TLL as a Young Investigator in November 2014 to start his independent research group.

Education

• Ph.D. National University of Singapore / NUS (2008 — 2011)
• B.Sc. (Hons) National University of Singapore / NUS (2004 — 2008)
• A Levels Anderson Junior College (2000 — 2002)
• O Levels Montfort Secondary School (1996 — 1999)
• PSLE Montfort Junior School (1990 — 1995)

Companies

• Adjunct Assistant Professor National University of Singapore (2018)
• Principal Investigator Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (2018)
• Young Investigator Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (2014 — 2018)
• Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellow of the Life Sciences Research Foundation Carnegie Institution for Science, Department of Embryology (2013 — 2014)
• Carnegie Collaborative Fellow Carnegie Institution for Science, Department of Embryology (2012 — 2014)
• Junior Research Fellow Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (2008 — 2012)
• Honour Project Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (2007 — 2008)
• Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROPS) Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) (2006 — 2007)
• Summer intern Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (2006 — 2006)

Skills

• Scientific Writing
• Lifesciences
• Developmental Biology

Other

Confocal Microscopy, Molecular Biology, Genetics, Cell Biology

Selected Publications

• Osman, I. and Pek, J.W. (2018). A sisRNA/miRNA axis prevents loss of germline stem cells during starvation in Drosophila. Stem Cell Reports 11, 4-12.
• Ng, A.Y.E, Peralta, K.R.G. and Pek, J.W. (2018). Germline stem cell heterogeneity supports homeostasis in Drosophila. Stem Cell Reports 11, 13-21.
• Ng, S.S.J., Zheng, R.T., Osman, I. and Pek, J.W. (2018). Generation of Drosophila sisRNAs by independent transcription from cognate introns. iScience 4, 68-75.
• Wong, J.T., Akhbar, F., Ng, A.Y.E, Tay, M.L.I., Loi, G.J.E. and Pek, J.W.* (2017). DIP1 modulates stem cell homeostasis in Drosophila through regulation of sisR-1. Nat. Comm. 8, 759. (*corresponding author)
• Tay, M.,L.I. and Pek, J.W.* (2017). Maternally inherited stable intronic sequence RNA triggers a self-reinforcing feedback loop during development. Curr. Biol. 27, 1062-1067. (*corresponding author)
• Pek, J.W.*, Osman, I., Tay, M.,L.I. and Zheng, R.T. (2015). Stable intronic sequence RNAs have possible regulatory roles in Drosophila melanogaster. J. Cell Biol. 211, 243-251. (*corresponding author)
• Pek, J.W., Ng, B.F. and Kai, T. (2012). Polo-mediated phosphorylation of Maelstrom regulates oocyte determination during oogenesis in Drosophila. Development 139, 4505-4513.
• Pek, J.W. and Kai, T. (2011). DEAD-box RNA helicase Belle/DDX3 and the RNA interference pathway promote mitotic chromosome segregation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 108, 12007-12012.
• Pek, J.W. and Kai, T. (2011). A role for Vasa in regulating mitotic chromosome condensation in Drosophila. Curr. Biol. 21, 39-44.
• Pek, J.W., Lim, A.K. and Kai, T. (2009). Drosophila Maelstrom ensures proper germline stem cell lineage differentiation by repressing microRNA-7. Dev. Cell 17, 417-424. Review articles
• Chan, S.N. and Pek, J.W. (2019). Stable intronic sequence RNAs (sisRNAs): an expanding universe. Trends Biochem. Sci. 44, 258-272. Pek, J.W. (2018). Stable intronic sequence RNAs engage in feedback loops. Trends Genet. 34, 330-332.
• Osman, I., Tay, M.,L.I. and Pek, J.W.* (2016). Stable intronic sequence RNAs (sisRNAs): a new layer of gene regulation. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 73, 3507-3519. (*corresponding author)
• Pek, J.W.* and Okamura, K.* (2015). Regulatory RNAs discovered in unexpected places. WIREs RNA 6, 671-686. (*co-corresponding authors)
• Pek, J.W., Anand, A. and Kai, T. (2012). Tudor domain proteins in development. Development 139, 2255-2266. (*co-corresponding authors)
• Pek, J.W., Patil, V.S. and Kai, T. (2012). piRNA pathway and the potential processing site, the nuage, in the Drosophila germline. Dev. Growth Differ. 54, 66-77. (*co-first authors)
• Pek, J.W.* and Kai, T.* (2011). Non-coding RNAs enter mitosis: functions, conservation and implications. Cell Div. 6, 6. (*co-corresponding authors)