Damon Runyon News

Dr. Walter focuses on splicing factor genes, which carry out the RNA splicing process and are widely mutated in lung cancer. The splicing factor U2AF1 is mutated in 2% of lung cancer patients, but 80% of these mutations are identical, making it one of the most common missense mutations in lung cancer. Scientists do not have a good understanding of why this mutation occurs, or how it promotes cancer development. Dr.

Dr. Gu [Fraternal Order of Eagles Fellow] is deciphering the combinatorial code of mammalian transcription regulation. The precise and robust regulation of gene expression is typically achieved through a combination of multiple transcription factors. However, we lack understanding of how a mammalian transcription system perceives, processes, and presents combinations of transcription factors. Dr.

Dr. D’Orazio studies how epigenetically silenced regions of condensed DNA known as heterochromatin are maintained upon cell differentiation. In eukaryotes, heterochromatin is hallmarked by specific epigenetic modifications, e.g., the addition of methyl groups at specific sites. Two major protein complexes, Polycomb Repressive Complex 1 and 2, are essential for creating and maintaining these modification sites during development.

Dr. Bonny [Kenneth C. Frazier Fellow] is studying the signal pathways and molecular cues that coordinate the transition from inflammation to tissue repair in response to acute skin injury. During wounding, cells collectively activate stress response programs to promote repair and survival. Dr.

Dr. Squyres [National Mah Jongg League Fellow] is using quantitative microscopy and cell biology approaches to study how bacteria in biofilms coordinate their behavior in space and time. Biofilms are dense, multicellular communities of bacteria embedded in an extracellular matrix.

Dr. Guthrie [Connie and Bob Lurie Fellow] seeks to understand how the microbiome—the collection of bacteria, fungi, viruses, and other organisms that inhabit the body—affects patients’ response to chemotherapeutics. His research focuses on fluoropyrimidines, small molecules that are used to treat colorectal, head and neck, and breast cancers, but are not well tolerated by all patients.

Dr. Freije [Berger Foundation Fellow] is studying how the genetic diversity of hepatitis B virus (HBV) is shaped by its need to replicate and interact with specific host genes. Current antiviral therapeutics for HBV merely suppress infection and do not cure disease; as a result, patients with chronic HBV infection are at risk of developing liver cancer. Dr.

Dr. Culp [The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research Fellow] is exploring how the chemical components of food interact with the gut microbiome and how these interactions impact cancer risk. While diet is an important factor in cancer prevention, it is unclear how specific food components affect cancer risk in an individual.

Myelodysplasia and acute myeloid leukemia are blood cancers with a poor prognosis. At the root of these malignancies are cells harboring mutant forms of proteins with dysfunctional activity which results in abnormal cell behavior and drives disease progression. The focus of my project is the development of new therapeutics that precisely identify cells with mutant forms of the proteins and, by harnessing their aberrant biological activity, causes those cells to self-destruct.

Dr. Cissé [Merck Fellow] aims to define the functional importance of nutrient sensing within the tumor microenvironment. How cells sense and adapt to the availability of nutrients in their environment is incompletely understood, but one key pathway is the signaling system anchored by the mTORC1 kinase. The mTORC1 kinase regulates cell growth and metabolism in response to nutrients such as amino acids and glucose.