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. Azad Bonni, MD, PhD

    Neuronal cell development; glioblastoma

    Investigate key intracellular signaling pathways in neuronal cell development and maturation as well as in brain tumors such as glioblastoma  

  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. Peter Howley, MD

    Papillomavirus biology

    Investigate the activities of papillomavirus-encoded proteins, including the E6-mediated degradation of p53 and E2-mediated regulation of viral transcription and genome replication

  6. Amin Kassis, PhD

    Radiolabeled small molecule prodrugs for non-invasive cancer imaging and therapy

    Development of Enzyme-Mediated Cancer Imaging and Therapy (EMCIT) as a new paradigm for noninvasive radioimaging and radiotherapy (ß- and alpha-particle emitting radionuclides) of solid ...

  7. 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.

  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. Kevin Struhl, PhD

    Eukaryotic Transcriptional Regulation

    Investigate basic mechanisms of gene regulation in yeast; Employ mammalian cell models of tumorigenesis to elucidate genetic changes that underlie cancer development and progression  

  10. Fred Winston, PhD

    Mechanisms of eukaryotic gene expression in yeast: transcriptional regulation; chromatin structure

    Employs yeast as a model organism to study mechanisms of eukaryotic transcriptional regulation.