Thematic Research Areas:
Cancer Biology and Molecular Medicine Research
 

Cancer development involves the disruption of numerous cellular pathways that regulate how the cell grows, moves, responds to stimuli, and dies. In the Cancer Biology and Molecular Medicine research area, we utilize approaches ranging from biochemistry to cell biology to molecular genetics to animal models to understand the molecular bases of these functional pathways involved in tumorigenesis. Through collaboration with clinicians at the Health Center, some of the basic science findings discovered through Cancer Biology and Molecular Medicine Research are being used to detect, prevent and treat cancer in patients.

Andrew Arnold, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Genetics and Developmental Biology, Murray-Heilig Chair in Molecular Medicine, Director, Center for Molecular Medicine. Pathogenesis of parathyroid and other endocrine tumors, and role of the cyclin D1 oncogene in neoplasia, including breast cancer.

Gordon G. Carmichael, Professor of Genetics and Developmental Biology; Ph.D., Harvard, 1975. Regulation of gene expression in eukaryotes.

Kevin Claffey, Associate Professor of Cell Biology; Ph.D., Boston University School of Medicine, 1989. Angiogenesis in cancer progression and metastasis; vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression; hypoxia-mediated gene regulation.

Anne Delany, Assistant Professor of Medicine. Ph.D., Dartmouth Medical School. Study of non-collagenous matrix proteins and metalloproteinases important in bone remodeling. This includes investigation of the function and post-transcriptional regulation of osteonectin or SPARC in bone, and the function and regulation of the metastasis associated metalloproteinase, stromelsyin-3, in bone.

Paul Epstein, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Cell Biology. Receptor signal transduction, second messengers, and protein phosphorylation in control of cell growth and regulation; purification and regulation of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases; role of calmodulin in mediating Ca2+-dependent cell processes.

Guo-Hua Fong, Assistant Professor of Cell Biology, Ph.D., University of Illinois. Developmental biology of the vascular system, VEGF-A receptor signal transduction, embryonic stem cells and gene knock-out in mice.

Henry M. Furneaux, Associate Professor of Molecular, Microbial and Structural Biology; Ph.D., University of Aberdeen, Scotland. The regulation of gene expression at the posttranscriptional level.

Brenton R. Graveley, Associate Professor of Genetics and Developmental Biology. Ph.D., University of Vermont, 1996. Regulation of alternative pre-mRNA splicing.

David Han, Assistant Professor of Cell Biology, Ph.D., Washington University, 1994. Apoptosis signaling using proteomics and mass spectrometry and bioinformatics technologies.

Marc Hansen, Professor of Medicine, M.S., University of Wisconsin 1982, Ph.D., University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, 1986. Molecular genetics of osteosarcoma and related bone diseases.

Christopher Heinen, Assistant Professor of Medicine, B.Sc., Northwestern University, Ph.D., University of Cincinnati. Biochemical and cellular defects of the DNA mismatch repair pathway during tumorigenesis.

Marja Hurley, Professor of Medicine, M.D., University of Connecticut School of Medicine. Molecular mechanisms by which members of the fibroblast growth factor (FGFs) and fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) families, (produced by osteoblasts, osteoclasts and stromal cells) regulate bone development, remodeling and disorders of bone. Fgf2 knockout and Fgf2 transgenic mice are utilized in loss and gain of function experiments to elucidate the role of FGF-2 in disorders of bone including osteoporosis.

Liisa T. Kuhn, Assistant Professor of Oral Rehabilitation, Biomaterials and Skeletal Development, Center for Regenerative Medicine and Skeletal Development; Ph.D., University of California-Santa Barbara. Biomaterials for drug delivery and bone regeneration and repair.

Leo Lefrançois, Professor of Immunology, B.S., Colorado State University; Ph.D., Wake Forest University. T-cell activation and migration, T-cell memory; immune response to infection; tolerance; vaccines.

Zihai (Zack) Li, Associate Professor of Immunology, M.D., Henan Medical College, Ph.D., Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Tumor immunology, roles of heat shock proteins and heat shock response in antigen presentation, T cell education and anti-tumor immunity.

Alan G. Lurie, Head and Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, D.D.S., UCLA, Ph.D., University of Rochester. Digital imaging analysis of dental and bone diseases.

Sanjay Mallya, Assistant Professor of Oral Health and Diagnostic Sciences, Division of Oral Diagnosis, B.D.S., M.D.S., University of Bombay; Ph.D., University of Connecticut. Molecular genetics of oral cancer, effects of parathyroid hormone on bone.

Bruce J. Mayer, Associate Professor of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Ph.D., Rockefeller University. Mechanisms of signal transduction.

Bijay Mukherji, Professor of Medicine, M.D., Calcutta University. Tumor immunology and cancer vaccines, tumor-specific antigens.

Carol C. Pilbeam, Professor of Medicine; Ph.D., Yale University, 1982. M.D., Yale School of Medicine. Mechanisms of regulation of bone formation and resorption.

Daniel W. Rosenberg, Ph.D., Professor of Medicine. Molecular genetics of colorectal cancer; signaling pathways in the development of tumors; toxicogenomics

Linda Shapiro, Assistant Professor of Cell Biology; Ph.D., University of Michigan, 1984. To dissect and analyze the regulation of tissue-restricted gene expression, my laboratory has concentrated on understanding the molecular mechanisms controlling transcription of the CD13/APN gene in hematopoietic cells and more recently, in angiogenic endothelium.

Henry Smilowitz, Professor of Radiology, Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Development of novel therapies for experimental advanced, imminently lethal malignant brain tumors in rats and mice; use of gold nanoparticles to develop a new form of radiation therapy (gold-enhanced radiation therapy) and novel approaches to both tumor and vascular imaging.

Pramod K. Srivastava, Professor of Medicine, Ph.D., Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, India. Heat shock proteins as peptide chaperones, roles in antigen presentation and applications in immunotherapy of cancer, infectious diseases and autoimmune disorders.

Jennifer Tirnauer, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Center for Molecular Medicine; M.D., University of Maryland School of Medicine, 1989. Role of the microtubule cytoskeleton in cancer biology; molecular mechanisms of microtubule regulation.

Bruce A. White, Professor of Cell Biology; Ph.D., Berkeley, 1980. Aspects of prolactin and growth hormone gene expression in the rat pituitary and rat pituitary tumor cell lines.

Changping Zou, Associate Professor of Molecular, Microbial and Structural Biology, Ph.D., University of Texas, Houston, M.D., Beijing Medical University. Molecular biology of gynecologic cancers with a focus on signaling pathways and biomarkers involved in chemoprevention.