Cancer Biology
Scientific Goals
The goal of this program is to discover and develop new molecular mechanisms that control growth, differentiation, survival, clonal adaptation and genetic stability in normal mammalian cells and to define perturbations of these mechanisms that are necessary and sufficient for the development of cancer.
Members of this group share the overarching principle of the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute to develop novel and less toxic forms of treatment and prevention of malignant diseases. Toward this goal, we must first develop a comprehensive and integrated picture of molecular pathogenesis, a picture that necessarily requires studies of normal, pre-malignant and malignant cells. Members use advanced tools of genetic, cellular and molecular biology to identify interactions between cancer cells and their microenvironment, identify molecular targets for treatment and prevention and identify control points for terminal differentiation, cell cycle arrest, genome protection and apoptosis.
Focus Groups
The Cancer Biology program constitutes the foundation of basic science research of the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute. There are three research focus areas designed to help facilitate collaborative interactions: Signal Transduction, Carcinogenesis/Genetic Instability and Apoptosis. Members fall into one or more of these groups.
- Signal Transduction members focus their research on cellular signaling pathways and mechanisms of relevance to the regulation of normal and cancer cell growth including the integrated function of growth factors and their receptors, kinase-mediated signaling phenomena and the regulation of transcription that lies downstream of the aforementioned events.
- Carcinogenesis/Genetic Instability members focus their studies on cell cycle check-point control, DNA damage and repair pathways, and the relationship of these events to the development of genetic instability and cancer.
- Apoptosis members focus their research on molecular mechanisms that regulate programmed cell death and how this impacts the development of cancer and its role in cancer therapy.
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Appointments: Behavioral Neurocience |
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Appointments: Department Chair, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, OHSU Director of Basic Research, OHSU Knight Cancer Research |
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Special Expertise:
MDM2 c-Myc ribosomal protein nucleolar stress |
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Special Interest:
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Appointments: Professor, Cell and Developmental Biology |
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Special Expertise:
Mitochondria Calcium Permeability transition Pore Signaling |
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Appointments: Director, Vollum Institute Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology Professor of Biochemistry Professor of Molecular Biology |
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Appointments: Gordon Moore Endowed Chair Chair, Department of Biomedical Engineering Director, OHSU Center for Spatial Systems Biomedicine Associate Director for Translational Research, OHSU Knight Cancer Institute |
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Special Expertise:
metabolism |
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Appointments: Director, Affymetrix Microarray Core |
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Appointments: Assistant Professor |
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Special Interest:
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Special Interest:
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Special Interest:
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Special Interest:
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Special Interest:
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Special Expertise:
oxidative stress ultraviolet light-induced DNA damage formaldehyde-induced DNA damage DNA repair |
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Special Expertise:
dna repair |
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Special Expertise:
chemotherapy hypoxia genetics metabolism |
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Appointments: Professor of Physiology and Pharmacology Director, Program in Chemical Biology |
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Appointments: Associate Professor |
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Special Expertise:
Demyelinating diseases Oligodendrocytes Schwann cells Multiple sclerosis |
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Special Expertise:
Polytopic membrane proteins ER-associated degradation |
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Special Interest:
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Appointments: Professor, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Department |
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Special Expertise:
Gene silencing Somatic Mutation Radiation mutagenesis Environmental Exposure |
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Special Expertise:
wnt/B-catenin signaling axin arrow LDL receptor related protein (LRP) |
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Appointments: Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, OHSU Member, Cancer Biology Program, Knight Cancer Institute, OHSU |
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Special Interest:
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Appointments: Director, Division of Molecular Radiation & Cancer Biology Assistant Professor of Radiation Medicine |
External Knight Cancer Institute Research Members
| Researcher | Research Area |
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| Peter Hurlin, Ph.D. | Cell & Developmental Biology, Shriners |
| Jefferey Singer, Ph.D. | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Portland State University |
| Scott Stadler, Ph.D. | Molecular & Medical Genetics, Shriners |
