Damon Runyon News

Dr. Webster [Philip O’Bryan Montgomery, Jr., MD, Fellow] studies Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL), an aggressive cancer that hijacks the normal molecular mechanisms acting in immune B cells to drive malignant growth. Many genes have been studied as oncogenes or tumor suppressors in DLBCL, but a class of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) remains largely unexplored for its function in this cancer. LncRNAs, once thought to be non-functional products of junk DNA, are now known to play an essential role in many biological processes.

Dr. Muller [HHMI Fellow] is examining Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), a virus associated with lifelong infections. A healthy immune system keeps the virus in check; however, in immunocompromised individuals, KSHV is associated with a number of malignances, including Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS), primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) and multicentric Castleman’s disease (MCD). KSHV dramatically manipulates the intracellular gene expression environment of its host cell.

Dr. Gifford [HHMI Fellow] aims to identify and define the roles for DNA binding proteins that can manipulate DNA conformation in the nucleus. DNA is maintained in an ordered conformation that contributes to control of gene expression and cellular identity. She will employ next-generation sequencing approaches and human induced pluripotent stem cells to better understand the mechanisms of this process. Her goal is to understand why the loss of function or aberrant expression of these DNA binding proteins leads to cancer.

Dr. Leppek [Layton Family Fellow] aims to combine RNA and ribosome biology with developmental biology to investigate how cells regulate protein synthesis through a process called translation. This process requires regulatory mechanisms to fine-tune when and where genes are expressed. Defective expression of certain genes gives rise to uncontrolled growth and metastasis of cancer cells. She will identify and characterize molecular components that play a functional role in mediating translational control during embryogenesis.

Dr. Brennan [Dennis and Marsha Dammerman Fellow] studies colorectal cancer and its connection to the human microbiota--the collection of bacteria and other microbes found associated with the body in both healthy and disease states. One such organism is Fusobacterium nucleatum, a bacterium that is naturally found in the mouths and gastrointestinal tract of healthy individuals.