Harvard University Medical School
Appointed in 1965
Read more
Harvard University Medical School
Appointed in 1965
Johns Hopkins University
Appointed in 1977
Stanford University
Appointed in 1982
Columbia University
Appointed in 2010
University of Colorado, Boulder
Appointed in 1970
Read more
University of Colorado, Boulder
Appointed in 1970
University of California, Berkeley
Appointed in 1984
Read more
University of California, Berkeley
Appointed in 1984
University of Washington School of Medicine
Appointed in 2003
Read more
University of Washington School of Medicine
Appointed in 2003
National Institute for Medical Research, England
Appointed in 2000
Read more
National Institute for Medical Research, England
Appointed in 2000
State University of New York, Stony Brook
Appointed in 1980
Read more
State University of New York, Stony Brook
Appointed in 1980
State University, Gent, Belgium
Appointed in 1966
Read more
State University, Gent, Belgium
Appointed in 1966
University of California, Berkeley
Appointed in 1988
Read more
University of California, Berkeley
Appointed in 1988
Carnegie Institute for Science
Appointed in 1988
Read more
Carnegie Institute for Science
Appointed in 1988
University of California, Berkeley
Appointed in 1987
Read more
University of California, Berkeley
Appointed in 1987
Rockefeller University
Appointed in 2003
Read more
Rockefeller University
Appointed in 2003
University of California, San Diego
Appointed in 1974
Read more
University of California, San Diego
Appointed in 1974
Johns Hopkins University
Appointed in 1972
Harvard University Medical School
Appointed in 1988
Read more
Harvard University Medical School
Appointed in 1988
University of Edinburgh, Scotland
Appointed in 1971
Read more
University of Edinburgh, Scotland
Appointed in 1971
State University of New York, Stony Brook
Appointed in 1999
Read more
State University of New York, Stony Brook
Appointed in 1999
Harvard University
Appointed in 1974
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
Appointed in 2017
Read more
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
Appointed in 2017
High-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) is the most aggressive gynecological malignancy for which few targeted therapies exist. The poor prognosis associated with this disease underscores the importance of targeting critical determinants of tumor relapse and therapeutic resistance, which account for the high morbidity rate. Given our lab’s findings that acquisition of the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) endows carcinoma cells with enhanced tumor-initiating potential and therapeutic resistance, I propose to identify novel mechanisms to reverse the EMT program by performing a pooled CRISPR/Cas9-based screen using a genome-wide sgRNA library optimized for high target cleavage efficiency. Candidate hits will be functionally characterized to ascertain their role in EMT-associated phenotypes and the mechanism by which their depletion elicits a mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET). Furthermore, I will investigate the potential translation of these findings for therapeutic utility by evaluating the efficacy of tumor-targeting Layer-by-layer (Lbl) nanoparticles that deliver siRNAs or drugs that induce an MET alone or in combination with platinum-based drugs using clinically relevant HGSOC patient-derived xenograft mouse models and genetically engineered mouse models._x000D_
_x000D_
University of Colorado, Boulder
Appointed in 1973
Read more
University of Colorado, Boulder
Appointed in 1973
Harvard University Medical School
Appointed in 1974
Cambridge University, England
Appointed in 1963
Read more
Cambridge University, England
Appointed in 1963
Harvard University
Appointed in 1994
Stowers Institute for Medical Research
Appointed in 2009
Read more
Stowers Institute for Medical Research
Appointed in 2009
Current research: Identification of the machinery involved in H3K79 methylation and development of small molecular inhibitors against H3K79 methylation.
My interest in biology was awakened during my childhood, mainly through my grandfather who introduced me, through books, to the animal world. Through hobbies like fishing this interest was enforced and carried over into my adolescence. After high school, I started to study classical biology but realized early that I had a more pronounced interest in molecular biology. Starting to make fly food as an undergrad in a lab at the University of Heidelberg in Germany ultimately got me involved in the field of Drosophila genetics and development, and served as the springboard for my decision to move to Houston for my graduate studies. Part of my PhD work was to perform genetic screens to identify cell death regulators in Drosophila. One of the identified candidates turned out also to play a role in the regulation of chromatin. To further expand my experience in biochemical research I joined the lab of Ali Shilatifard in Kansas City. My work here is focused on better understanding the mechanisms by which certain factors regulate transcription through chromatin modification.
Center for Blood Research, Boston
Appointed in 1988
Read more
Center for Blood Research, Boston
Appointed in 1988
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Appointed in 1994
University of California, Berkeley
Appointed in 2014
Read more
University of California, Berkeley
Appointed in 2014
An array of actin modulators promotes actin filament assembly, disassembly, and organization. However, a detailed understanding how this vast network of factors work in concert to precisely regulate actin dynamics is at best incomplete. Many insights into actin regulation have been derived through examining how microbial pathogens manipulate the actin cytoskeleton during infection. The bacterial pathogen Mycobacterium marinum, a close relative of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, has the rare ability to stimulate actin-based motility in the host cytoplasm. However, the bacterial and host factors that contribute to this phenomenon are largely unknown.
Circumstantial evidence suggests M. marinum recruits the actin nucleation promoting factors WASP and N-WASP through an unusual ability to synthesize phosphorylated phosphoinositol (PIP) lipids. Subsequently, M. marinum activates WASP and N-WASP to nucleate actin filaments through an unfamiliar pathway. The goal of this work is to define M. marinum actin-based motility to further illuminate actin regulation at cellular membranes.
University of California, San Francisco
Appointed in 1994
Read more
University of California, San Francisco
Appointed in 1994
University of Basel, Switzerland
Appointed in 1988
Read more
University of Basel, Switzerland
Appointed in 1988
Harvard University Medical School
Appointed in 1971
Read more
Harvard University Medical School
Appointed in 1971
Cornell University /
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Appointed in 1980
Read more
Cornell University / Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Appointed in 1980
Harvard University Medical School
Appointed in 1970
Read more
Harvard University Medical School
Appointed in 1970
Portsmouth Polytechnic, England
Appointed in 1975
Harvard University Medical School
Appointed in 1958
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Appointed in 1976
Read more
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Appointed in 1976
Stanford University
Appointed in 2019
Both neural activity in different brain regions and behavior change over time and in disease states in both humans and animals, but how exactly activity of single neurons and their associated network dynamics change and directly affect such altered behavior is largely unknown. I am using single-cell optical and electrophysiological neural recording and perturbation techniques to study changes in neural circuit dynamics that control changes in animal behavior.
Previously, I completed a four-year joint bachelor’s/master’s degree program at Harvard University in Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology/Bioengineering, and then I received my PhD in Biophysics from UCSF studying stem cell aging in the lab of Dr. Emmanuelle Passegue.
Massachusetts General Hospital
Appointed in 1952
Read more
Massachusetts General Hospital
Appointed in 1952
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Appointed in 1986
Read more
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Appointed in 1986
Yale University
Appointed in 1967
Harvard University Medical School
Appointed in 2000
Read more
Harvard University Medical School
Appointed in 2000
King's College, London
Appointed in 1984
University of Utah
Appointed in 2007
Stanford University
Appointed in 1994
Harvard University
Appointed in 1998
Harvard University
Appointed in 2007
University of Chicago
Appointed in 1972
Harvard University and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory /
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Appointed in 1971
Read more
Harvard University and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory / Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Appointed in 1971
University of California, Berkeley
Appointed in 2003
Read more
University of California, Berkeley
Appointed in 2003
Harvard University
Appointed in 2022
Read more
Harvard University
Appointed in 2022
Animals rely on instinctive behaviors and homeostatic responses, such as parenting, feeding, mating, and sleeping, to ensure individual and species survival. Maximizing survival requires meeting the most pressing needs at the right time, forcing animals to establish behavioral priorities based on a hierarchy of needs. Neurons controlling many of these behaviors are located within the highly interconnected medial preoptic area of the hypothalamus (MPA), making this structure a likely control hub underlying behavioral hierarchy. However, the neural logic of intra-MPA connectivity and how this directs behavioral priorities across physiological states is unknown.
Using the mouse MPA as a model system, I am studying the cell type-specific structural and functional connectivity underlying key competing behavioral and physiological responses. Further, I am determining how animal states, such as virgin or parent, alter neuron function to induce new behavioral priorities. This work will provide the first depiction of a neural basis of the hierarchy of needs and open new avenues for understanding the neural basis of behavior.