Research Categories - Disease Mechanisms

Many HMS laboratories are exploring biological mechanisms of disease processes, applying sophisticated technologies to mechanistic and therapeutic studies. These investigations focus on a wide range of disease entities, from prevalent afflictions such as cancer, to viral diseases of epidemic proportions such as AIDS, to uncommon genetic diseases.

Related Investigators

  1. John Blenis, PhD

    Signal transduction: nutrient and energy sensing; disease; mTOR; PI3-kinase; Ras

    Explore the diverse yet overlapping intracellular transmission signals propagated by cell surface receptors that respond to extracellular growth factors, environmental conditions, and other ...

  2. Constance Cepko, PhD

    Retina development and pathophysiology

    Investigate the mechanisms of the development of different retinal cell types derived from multipotent retinal progenitor cells with a focus on photoreceptor cells; study the pathological loss of ...

  3. David Evans, PhD

    HIV infection and AIDS vaccine development

    Investigate new approaches for AIDS vaccine development using SIV infection of non-human primates as a model system.  

  4. Jose Halperin, MD

    Targeting protein translation for anticancer therapies; CD59 and diabetes

    Employ the preclinical resources of the Laboratory for Translational Research to develop new therapies and diagnostics in oncology and diabetes

  5. Peter Howley, MD

    Papillomavirus biology

    Investigate the activities of papillomavirus-encoded proteins, including the E6-mediated degradation of p53 and E2-mediated regulation of viral transcription and genome replication

  6. Guo-Fu Hu, PhD

    Angiogenin and its role in disease: angiogenesis, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases

    Investigate angiogenin’s mechanism of action and its role in cancer and neurodegenerative disease, with a focus on prostate cancer and ALS.  

  7. Amitinder Kaur, MD

    AIDS pathogenesis and CMV opportunistic infection: SIV; vaccine; AIDS resistance

    AIDS modeling in non-human primates; reactivation of latent CMV in HIV-infected individuals; innate resistance to SIV-related disease progression.  

  8. Yang Shi, PhD

    Histone demethylation and gene regulation: gene expression; epigenetics; disease

    Studies on lysine-specific demethylases and biochemical and functional aspects of histone demethylation.  

  9. David Sinclair, PhD

    Sirtuins in aging and disease: calorie restriction; mitochondria; cancer; diabetes

    Study sirtuin pathways, their role in multiple diseases and their lifespan extension capabilities.

  10. Peter Sorger, PhD

    Systems biology applied to disease mechanisms and drug therapy

    Translate activity-based proteomic data and computational modeling into practical applications for cancer therapies, inflammation studies, and personalized medicine.