UCCRC Research Program One

Cell Signaling and Gene Regulation

Program Leaders:  Marsha Rosner, PhD, and Suzanne Conzen, MD

The Cell Signaling and Gene Regulation Program focuses on determining the basic cell signaling and gene expression mechanisms that underlie malignancy. The Program has 47 members from 12 departments with a wealth of experience, which includes research in chemistry, cell signaling, systems biology, developmental biology, and drug discovery. Research in the Program does not center on specific types of cancer; rather, it encompasses five different themes all of which focus on determining the mechanisms whereby genes, and the proteins they encode, function in both normal and cancerous conditions. Specifically, the research themes of the Cell Signaling and Gene Regulation Program are:

  • elucidate the molecular mechanisms of tissue‑specific and cell type‑specific gene expression;
  • elucidate the cellular mechanisms underlying cell growth/division and cell survival/death;
  • understand the multi‑faceted mechanisms leading to cancer metastases;
  • use large‑scale, high throughput and systems biology approaches, as well as genetic evolutionary approaches to understand cancer biology; and
  • discover novel developmental pathways relevant to cancer cell signaling.

In recent years, members of the Cell Signaling and Gene Regulation Program have enhanced the translational components of the program and have fostered collaborations between cancer biologists and chemists. The goal of these initiatives is to aid in the identification of potential targets and signaling pathways involved in cancer and to facilitate the testing of small molecule inhibitors of identified targets and/or pathways. 

Program Highlights 2008

 

 

 

Program 1
Cell Signaling and Gene Regulation
Program Leaders: Marsha Rosner, PhD and Suzanne Conzen, MD

Program 2
Molecular Genetics and Hematopoiesis
Program Leaders: Wendy Stock, MD and Michael Thirman, MD

Program 3
Immunology and Cancer
Program Leader: Thomas F. Gajewski, MD, PhD

Program 4
Clinical and Experimental Therapeutics
Program Leaders: Everett E. Vokes, MD and M. Eileen Dolan, PhD

Program 5
Advanced Imaging
Program Leaders: Greg Karczmar, PhD and Heber MacMahon, MD

Program 6
Cancer Risk and Prevention
Program Leaders: Brian Chiu, PhD and Andrea King, PhD