Karl A. Merrick, PhD, with his sponsor Michael B. Yaffe, MD, PhD, at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, is studying how inflammation affects the development of colorectal cancer and the response of these tumors to chemotherapy. By using animal models and highly quantitative systems-based approaches, he hopes to identify novel therapies and develop methods to predict the efficacy of drug treatment.
Michael E. Pacold, MD, PhD [Sally Gordon Fellow] with his sponsors David M. Sabatini, MD, PhD, and Nathanael S. Gray, PhD, at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts, studies dehydrogenases, a class of metabolic enzymes that synthesize the building blocks required for the survival and proliferation of cancer cells. His goal is to develop compounds that block the activity of dehydrogenases essential for the growth of treatment-refractory cancers, with a particular focus on certain breast cancers.
Laura Pontano Vaites, PhD, with her sponsor J. Wade Harper, PhD, at Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, focuses on the autophagy pathway, a critical regulatory network that allows cells to recycle cellular components to survive nutrient-depleted conditions. Deregulation of autophagy leads to diseases, including cancer. The proposed work will provide detailed insight into the dynamics and organization of complexes required for autophagy and how this organization may be disrupted in cancer.
Lisa R. Racki, PhD [HHMI Fellow] with her s
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| Contact: Yung S. Lie, Ph.D. yung.lie@damonrunyon.org 212-455-0521 Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Source:Eurekalert |