Brock Christensen
Kelsey Laboratory
Harvard School of Public Health
The
primary focus of my research is investigating the role of methylation in
cancer. Methylation is an epigenetic regulatory mechanism which can inactivate
genes and contributes to the development and maintenance of the cancer cell.
A case control study of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma based in the
Boston area is one of the sources of samples for the analysis of methylation
status in human tumors. Using methylation specific PCR to characterize methylation
status of various genes in human tumor samples I examine association between
methylation status and patient variables such as demographics and exposure
history gathered through interviews and questionnaires. In addition, the
mechanism by which methylation occurs is of great interest. Using tissue
culture techniques to evaluate methylation specific toxicogenomic profiles
for different compounds I hope to describe sources of aberrant de novo methylation
which may contribute to the promotion of carcinogenesis.