Human Oncology & Pathogenesis Program

The Rachel Niec Lab

Research

Rachel Niec
Rachel Niec, MD, PhD
Physician-Scientist

Complex tissue functions, such as nutrient absorption and barrier defense in the intestine, are influenced and tuned by environmental cues and stresses. However, the environmentally tuned cellular interaction networks that define tissue health and resilience or predispose to disease states are poorly understood. At the Niec lab, we are studying the cellular and molecular mechanisms of coordinated tissue level responses to environmental cues and stresses and their contributions to tissue functions and disease states. Focusing on immune cells, stem cells, and stromal cells in the intestine and using multiple complimentary tools and approaches of 3D imaging, spatial transcriptomics, and single cell tissue cartography combined with functional studies, we aim to pave the way for therapeutic modification of disrupted tissue states to prevent and treat inflammatory disease, adverse reactions to immunotherapy, and cancer.

Niec Lab Members

Publications Highlights

Cheong J, Ravishankar A†, Sharma S†, Parkhurst CN†, Grassmann S, Wingert CK, Laurent P, Ma S, Paddock L, Miranda I, Karakaslar O, Nehar-Belaid D, Thibodeau A, Bale MJ, Kartha VK Yee JK, Mays MY, Jiang C, Daman AW, Martinez de Paz A, Ahimovic D, Ramos V, Lercher A, Nielsen E, Alvarez-Mulett S, Zheng L, Earl A, Yallowitz A, Robbins L, LaFond E, Weidman K, Racine-Brzostek S, Yang HS, Price D, Rendeiro AF, Ravichandran H, Kim H, Borczuk AC, Rice CM, R. Jones B, Schenck EJ, Kaner RJ, Chadburn A, Zhao Z, Pascual V, Elemento O, Schwartz RE, Buenrostro JD, Niec RE, Barrat FJ, Lief L, Sun JC, Ucar D*, Josefowicz SZ*. (2023) Epigenetic Memory of COVID-19 in Innate Immune Cells and Their Progenitors. Cell. 186(18):3882-3902.e24. († and *equal contribution)

Niec RE*, Chu T*, Schernthanner M*, Gur-Cohen S*, Hidalgo L, Pasolli HA, Luckett KA, Wang Z, Bhalla SR, Cambuli F, Kataru RP, Ganesh K, Mehrara BJ, Pe’er D, Fuchs E. (2022). Lymphatics act as a signaling hub to regulate intestinal stem cell activity. Cell Stem Cell. 29(7):1067-1082.e18. (* equal contribution)

Niec RE, Rudensky AY, Fuchs E. (2021). Inflammatory Adaptation in Barrier Tissues. Cell. 184(13):3361-3375.

Levine AG, Hemmers S, Niec RE, Schizas M, Chaudhry A, Dikiy S, Treuting PM, Rudensky AY. (2017) Stability and function of regulatory T cells expressing the Transcription factor T-bet. Nature. 546(7658):421-425.

Sakaguchi S, Vignali DA, Rudensky AY, Niec RE, Waldmann H. (2013). The plasticity of regulatory T cells. Nat Rev Immunol. 13(6):461-7.

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People

Rachel Niec

Rachel Niec, MD, PhD

Physician-Scientist

  • Physician-scientist Rachel Niec studies how cells and tissues communicate to promote health or drive inflammation and cancer.
  • MD, New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical College
  • PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Institute
niecr@mskcc.org
Email Address
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Physician profile

Members

Laura Berneking
Postdoctoral
Noelia Boldizsar
Graduate Student
Brea Chernokal
Graduate Student
Muxue Du
Muxue Du
Graduate Student
Jin Gyu Cheong
Postdoctoral Fellow
Christina Marciante
Administrative Assistant
Andrew Song
Research Technician
David Zurowski
Graduate Student

Achievements

  • Burroughs Wellcome Career Award for Medical Scientists, 2023-2028
  • K08 NIDDK Clinical Investigator Award, 2023-2026
  • International Society for Stem Cell Research Merit Award, 2022
  • American Society for Clinical Investigation Emerging Generation Award, 2021

Open Positions

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Disclosures

Members of the MSK Community often work with pharmaceutical, device, biotechnology, and life sciences companies, and other organizations outside of MSK, to find safe and effective cancer treatments, to improve patient care, and to educate the health care community. These activities outside of MSK further our mission, provide productive collaborations, and promote the practical application of scientific discoveries.

MSK requires doctors, faculty members, and leaders to report (“disclose”) the relationships and financial interests they have with external entities. As a commitment to transparency with our community, we make that information available to the public. Not all disclosed interests and relationships present conflicts of interest. MSK reviews all disclosed interests and relationships to assess whether a conflict of interest exists and whether formal COI management is needed.

Rachel Niec discloses the following relationships and financial interests:

  • EpiStemyx, Inc.
    Professional Services and Activities (Uncompensated)

The information published here is a complement to other publicly reported data and is for a specific annual disclosure period. There may be differences between information on this and other public sites as a result of different reporting periods and/or the various ways relationships and financial interests are categorized by organizations that publish such data.

This page and data include information for a specific MSK annual disclosure period (January 1, 2024 through disclosure submission in spring 2025). This data reflects interests that may or may not still exist. This data is updated annually.

Learn more about MSK’s COI policies here. For questions regarding MSK’s COI-related policies and procedures, email MSK’s Compliance Office at ecoi@mskcc.org.


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