Brendan Manning receives NCI Outstanding Investigator Award
Cancer is a disease of uncontrolled cell growth. Under this renewal, Dr. Manning and his team study the regulation and function of a ubiquitous cell signaling pathway that serves as the gatekeeper of cell growth. They are defining how the most common oncogenes in human cancer impinge on this pathway to drive growth-promoting metabolic processes within tumors and how the nutrient microenvironment of tumors impacts this regulation. Thus, this research is focused at the interface of oncogenic signaling networks and cellular metabolic networks, with the overarching goal of uncovering novel and selective therapeutic strategies that distinguish tumor cells from normal cells.
Welcome, Dr. Ubellacker
In July 2022 we welcomed Dr. Jessalyn Ubellacker to the Department of Molecular Metabolism as our newest Assistant Professor of Molecular Metabolism. Dr. Ubellacker will use innovative approaches to investigate mechanisms that sensitize cancer cells to lipid oxidation to inhibit cancer metastasis.
Dr. Ubellacker conducted her postdoctoral work in the laboratory of Dr. Sean J. Morrison at the Children’s Research Institute at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. During her postdoctoral training, she discovered melanoma cells escaping to lymph nodes experience less oxidative stress and form more metastasis than melanoma cells circulating in the blood. Her work has suggested that initial metastasis through lymph nodes allows cancer cells to survive subsequent metastasis through the blood by protecting cancer cells from lipid reactive oxygen species. Dr. Ubellacker has recently completed MD training at Stanford University School of Medicine. She previously received her PhD in Biological and Biomedical Sciences (BBS) from Harvard Medical School, where she studied the influence of the tumor microenvironment on cancer metastasis in the lab of Dr. Sandra S. McAllister. Dr. Ubellacker holds an MA in Medical Science from Boston University, where she also worked as a research assistant, and earned her MPH and BS degrees from the University of Kentucky.
If you are interested in learning more about Dr. Ubellacker’s lab research, we invite you to review the Ubellacker Lab website and check back in often for updates on their exciting research. The Ubellacker Lab is looking to hire motivated postdocs and clinical fellows with expertise in biochemistry, biophysics, cell, and molecular biology, metabolism, imaging, or mouse physiology. To inquire about opportunities we suggest visiting the Ubellacker Lab Join Us page for more information.
Welcome, Dr. Ubellacker to our community!
