Research Categories - Cancer

Cancer remains a major cause of worldwide morbidity and mortality. Research into the underlying molecular and genetic basis of cancer has been hampered by the complex and diverse etiologies for different cancers. Many HMS investigators are exploring the aberrant pathophysiological events that characterize tumor cell growth and dissemination. Areas of molecular oncology research that are being studied include cell growth and division, growth factor signaling, angiogenesis, immune cell regulation, apoptosis, and novel small molecule anticancer therapeutics.

Related Investigators

  1. Daniel Finley, PhD

    Ubiquitin-dependent protein degradation and the proteasome: mechanisms and coordination; architecture; role in disease

    Study of proteasome activity and its relationship to diseases caused by proteinopathies.

  2. Jeremy Gunawardena, PhD

    Experimental and theoretical analysis of signal transduction: EGF signaling, drug efficacy, phosphorylation states, microfluidics, formalized biology language

    Investigate the dynamics of signal transduction, from a mechanistic and practical perspective. Describe at a fundamental level the input/output transformation that connects external signals to ...

  3. Marcia Haigis, PhD

    Mitochondrial dysfunction in aging and disease: bioenergetics, metabolomics, and cell stress

    Study the role of  the sirtuins in metabolism, aging, and disease

  4. Ed Harlow, PhD

    Molecular mechanisms of cell signaling and applications to cancer biology

    Global molecular screening studies to gain insights into the genetic regulation of cancer development and response of cancer cells to chemotherapy  

  5. Norbert Perrimon, PhD

    Modeling developmental processes and signaling pathways in Drosophila

    Use Drosophila as a model organism to explore basic biological mechanisms of development and cellular signaling, with a focus on muscle physiology.

  6. Yang Shi, PhD

    Histone demethylation and gene regulation: gene expression; epigenetics; disease

    Studies on lysine-specific demethylases and biochemical and functional aspects of histone demethylation.  

  7. Pamela Silver, PhD

    Systems and synthetic biology: gene expression; synthetic proteins; biofuel

    Investigate a wide spectrum of biological phenomena. Starting with gene regulation as a core theme, investigate nuclear spatial architecture, synthetic biology, epigenetics, systems biology, ...

  8. David Sinclair, PhD

    Sirtuins in aging and disease: calorie restriction; mitochondria; cancer; diabetes

    Study sirtuin pathways, their role in multiple diseases and their lifespan extension capabilities.

  9. Peter Sorger, PhD

    Systems biology applied to disease mechanisms and drug therapy

    Translate activity-based proteomic data and computational modeling into practical applications for cancer therapies, inflammation studies, and personalized medicine.  

  10. Priscilla Yang, PhD

    Host response to viral infection and drug discovery: dengue virus, hepatitis B and C viruses

    Investigate molecular mechanisms of dengue and hepatitis virus infection and replication; perform HTS for viral antagonists to identify host factors and pathways required for dengue virus infection ...