Cell Growth & Division

BIOGRAPHY

ACADEMIC POSITIONS:
• Professor, Institute for Cancer Research, Fox Chase Cancer Center
• Adjunct Associate Professor, University of Pennsylvania
• Director, Electron Microscopy Facility
• Director, Light Microscopy Facility
• Director, Small Animal Imaging Facility

EDUCATION:
• BA, Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 1978
• MA, Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 1981
• PhD, Biochemistry/Molecular Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 1985

HONORS:
• Leukemia Society of America Scholar, 1995-2000
• Lucille P Markey Scholar, 1989-1995
• Young Investigator's Award for research performed as a postdoctoral fellow at the • Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 1988
• Postdoctoral Fellowship Award, American Cancer Society, 1985-1988

RESEARCH INTERESTS:
Our laboratory is focused on understanding the mechanical and regulatory mechanisms that ensure that chromosomes are properly attached and segregated by the spindle during mitosis. We have focused our attention on characterizing the molecular composition and function of the kinetochore, as this is the structure on the chromosome that establishes and monitors connections with microtubules. We have identified molecular motors and checkpoint proteins that reside at kinetochores and are interested in understanding how these proteins interact with each other to carry out complex kinetochore functions. Our research is particularly relevant to cancer research as drugs that inhibit mitosis are a major modality for anti-cancer therapy.