Christian Dibble

Doctoral student, Department of Genetics and Complex Diseases

Christian Dibble has always been interested in science, but over the years his focus has shifted from environmental sciences to molecular biology. After graduating from Cornell, where he majored in plant molecular biology, Christian was drawn to Boston and its mix of universities and biotech companies. Christian first landed a job as a research assistant in a neurobiology lab at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center. Next he spent over five years in the oncology group at Curis, Inc., researching drugs that could be used to block the Hedgehog signaling pathway, involved in the progression of some cancers. (One of these drugs is now being tested clinically.) By then Christian was sure he wanted to make cancer the focus of his career. “Unfortunately, during our lifetime we all know someone who develops cancer,” he observes. “And cancer is a fascinating context in which to study cell biology.” As a doctoral student Christian is working with Assistant Professor Brendan Manning in the Department of Genetics and Complex Diseases on another signaling pathway, TSC1/2-mTOR, key to the development of certain metabolic diseases and cancers. “I feel very motivated and excited by the research I am doing,” he says. His other main enthusiasm is music—Christian collects classic soul and does a weekly broadcast on an internet radio station.