Research Interest: Cancer Biology
| Name | PhD Program | Research Interest | Publications |
|---|---|---|
| Williams, Scott E. WEBSITE PUBLICATIONS |
PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST |
Interest areas: Developmental Biology, Cell Biology, Cancer Biology, Stem Cells, Genetics PhD programs: Pathobiology & Translational Sciences, Genetics & Molecular Biology, Cell Biology & Physiology, Oral Biology, Biology Tissue development and homeostasis depend on the precise coordination of self-renewal and differentiation programs. A critical point of regulation of this balance is at the level of cell division. In the Williams lab, we are interested in stratified epithelial development, stem cells, and cancer, with a particular interest in how oriented cell divisions contribute to these processes. Asymmetric cell divisions maintain a stable pool of stem cells that can be used to sustain tissue growth, or mobilized in response to injury. However, dysregulation of this machinery can lead to cancer, particularly in epithelia where tissue turnover is rapid and continuous. Using the mouse epidermis and oral epithelia as model systems, we utilize cell biological, developmental and genetic approaches to study the molecular control of oriented cell divisions and mitotic spindle positioning, and how division orientation impacts cell fate choices in development, homeostasis, injury, and disease. |
| Williams, David C. Jr. WEBSITE PUBLICATIONS |
PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST |
The overall objective of our research is to understand the connection between structure of protein-DNA complexes, protein dynamics and function. We currently focus on the methyl-cytosine binding domain (MBD) family of DNA binding proteins. The MBD proteins selectively recognize methylated CpG dinucleotides and regulate gene expression critical for both normal development and carcinogenesis. We use a combination of NMR spectroscopy and biophysical analyses to study protein-DNA and protein-protein complexes involving the MBD proteins. Building on these studies, we are developing inhibitors of complex formation as potential molecular therapeutics for b-hemoglobinopathies and cancer. |
| Wang, Greg Gang WEBSITE PUBLICATIONS |
PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST |
With an emphasis on chromatin biology and cancer epigenetics, our group focuses on mechanistic understandings of how chemical modifications of chromatin define distinct patterns of human genome, control gene expression, and regulate cell proliferation versus differentiation during development, and how their deregulations lead to oncogenesis. Multiple on-going projects employ modern biological technologies to: 1) biochemically isolate and characterize novel factors that bind to histone methylation on chromatin, 2) examine the role of epigenetic factors (chromatin-modifying enzymes and chromatin-associated factors) during development and tumorigenesis using mouse knockout models, 3) analyze epigenomic and transcriptome alternation in cancer versus normal cells utilizing next-generation sequencing technologies, 4) identify novel oncogenic or tumor suppressor genes associated with leukemia and lymphoma using shRNA library-based screening. We are also working together with UNC Center of Drug Discovery to develop small-molecule inhibitors for chromatin-associated factors as novel targeted cancer therapies. |
| Liu, Pengda WEBSITE PUBLICATIONS |
PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST |
If you are interested in developing new biochemical/molecular techniques/tools to advance our understanding of biology, and if you are interested in signal transduction pathway analyses and identification of cancer biomarkers, our research group may help you to achieve your goals, as we have the same dreams. We are especially interested in deciphering the molecular mechanisms underlying aberrant signaling events that contribute to tumorigenesis, mediated through protein modifications and protein-protein interactions. Understanding these events may lead to identification of novel drug targets and provide new treatment strategies to combat human cancer. |
| Wu, Di WEBSITE PUBLICATIONS |
PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST |
Our group develops novel statistical bioinformatics tools and applies them in biomedical research to help understanding the precision medicine for cancer (e.g., breast cancer and lung cancer) subtypes, the disease associated integrative pathways across multiple genomic regulatory levels, and the genetics based drug repurposing mechanisms. Our recent focus includes pathway analysis, microbiome data analysis, data integration and electronica medical records (EMR). Our application fields include cancer, stem cell, autoimmune disease and oral biology. In the past, we have developed gene set testing methods with high citations, in the empirical Bayesian framework, to take care of small complex design and genewise correlation structure. These have been widely used in the microarray and RNAseq based gene expression analysis. Contamination detection for data analysis for Target DNA sequencing is work in progress. Recently, we also work on single cell sequencing data for pathway analysis with the local collaborators. |
| Gupton, Stephanie WEBSITE PUBLICATIONS |
PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST |
During cell shape change and motility, a dynamic cytoskeleton produces the force to initiate plasma membrane protrusion, while vesicle trafficking supplies phospholipids and membrane proteins to the expanding plasma membrane. Extracellular cues activate intracellular signaling pathways to elicit specific cell shape changes and motility responses through coordinated cytoskeletal dynamics and vesicle trafficking. In my lab we are investigating the role of two ubiquitin ligases, TRIM9 and TRIM67, in the cell shape changes that occur during neuronal development. We utilize a variety techniques including high resolution live cell microscopy, gene disruption, mouse models, and biochemistry to understand the complex coordination of cytoskeletal dynamics and membrane trafficking driving neuronal shape change and growth cone motility in primary neurons. |
| Gomez, Shawn WEBSITE PUBLICATIONS |
PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST |
Our primary research is in the area of computational systems biology, with particular interest in the study of biological signaling networks; trying to understand their structure, evolution and dynamics. In collaboration with wet lab experimentalists, we develop and apply computational models, including probabilistic graphical and multivariate methods along with more traditional engineering approaches such as system identification and control theory, to current challenges in molecular biology and medicine. Examples of recent research projects include: prediction of protein interaction networks, multivariate modeling of signal transduction networks, and development of methods for integrating large-scale genomic data sets. |
| Emanuele, Michael WEBSITE PUBLICATIONS |
PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST |
Our lab applies cutting edge genetic and proteomic technologies to unravel dynamic signaling networks involved in cell proliferation, genome stability and cancer. These powerful technologies are used to systematically interrogate the ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS), and allow us to gain a systems level understanding of the cell at unparalleled depth. We are focused on UPS signaling in cell cycle progression and genome stability, since these pathways are universally perturbed in cancer. |
| Duronio, Bob WEBSITE PUBLICATIONS |
PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST |
My lab studies how cell proliferation is controlled during animal development, with a focus on the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms that regulate DNA replication and gene expression throughout the cell cycle. Many of the genes and signaling pathways that we study are frequently mutated in human cancers. Our current research efforts are divided into three areas: 1) Plasticity of cell cycle control during development 2) Histone mRNA biosynthesis and nuclear body function 3) Epigenetic control of genome replication and function. |
| Dittmer, Dirk WEBSITE PUBLICATIONS |
PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST |
Our lab tries to understand viral pathogenesis. To do so, we work with two very different viruses – West Nile Virus (WNV) and Kaposi¹s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV/HHV-8). |