Graduate Programs in the Life Sciences

Research Focus

Research in my laboratory is aimed at understanding how small-molecule signals alter the activity of factors that modulate chromatin structure to control gene expression. Although we study fundamental mechanisms, we are interested in the role that these processes play in human diseases, including cancers. We have focused our efforts on two distinct, but likely interrelated, nuclear signaling pathways: one controlled by estrogens, a class of steroid signaling molecules, and another controlled by NAD+ and its metabolites, a group of compounds whose signaling actions in the nucleus are only just beginning to be understood. My lab is combining the most powerful techniques from modern biology, as well as the physical and computational sciences, to address specific mechanistic questions that will yield an in depth understanding of the molecular basis of signal-regulated gene expression in the chromatin environment of the nucleus. Our interdisciplinary approach has led to new information about the connections between nuclear signaling and the gene-regulating effects of chromatin.

Educational Background

• Ph.D., University of Illinois, 1994