Labs
Research Laboratories
"Genetic research in Utah is successful due to the enthusiastic participation of individuals whom often have extraordinarily well kept family records that go back many generations."
The collaborative research approach between doctors and scientists, with an emphasis on investigating the genetic basis of cancer, makes Huntsman Cancer Institute one of the leading cancer research organizations in the country.
Children categories
Our lab has developed new in vitro and in vivo approaches to better understand breast cancer and metastasis. The lab also works to develop better models for preclinical breast cancer drug testing.
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Our research has broad relevance to the study of human colorectal cancer. We are using mouse genetics and molecular methods to identify and characterize candidate cancer genes to provide new insights into the etiology of colorectal cancer.
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The Ayer Lab focuses on understanding how cells communicate information about their metabolic state to the nucleus to ultimately drive adaptive changes in gene expression. We are interested in how these metabolic signals coordinate with the signals that control cell growth, division, and death.
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Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death among women in the United States. Breast cancer can be categorized into distinct subtypes based on the pattern of genes expressed by the tumor. These gene expression signatures guide treatment decisions and correlate with clinical outcome. As a result, our lab is focused on understanding the complex molecular pathways driving the disease.
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The primary focus of the Beckerle Lab’s research is examining how cells change their behavior in response to extrinsic and intrinsic signals. These studies should clarify the basic mechanisms underlying cell behavior and lead to a better understanding of cancer and other diseases.
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The members of the Bernard Lab believe it is important to develop molecular techniques for diagnosis, prognosis, and guiding treatment. Our lab is a “translational” research lab committed to the discovery and clinical implementation of biomarkers for classification, detection, and monitoring of cancer in humans.
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In the Bhaskara Lab, we work to understand how chromatin-modifying enzymes, specifically histone deacetylases (Hdacs), control genome stability.
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The Burt-Neklason lab is focused on studying genes and pathways involved in familial colorectal cancers syndromes.
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The Cairns Lab is interested in how chromatin structure helps regulate gene transcription. We are also interested in epigenetics, and how chromatin structure and DNA methylation/demethylation dynamics are used in germ cells to poise the genome for development, and in embryos to guide developmental processes.
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The goal of the Chandrasekharan Lab is to understand the regulation and functions of histone and non-histone protein modifications during gene transcription and in genome stability maintenance.
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The Deininger Lab has a long-standing interest in the biology and therapy of leukemia, specifically chronic myeloproliferative neoplasms (CMPN), including chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and Philadelphia chromosome (Ph)-negative CMPN.
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The Graves Laboratory focuses on mechanistic questions in the area of transcriptional regulation. We specifically strive to understand the biology and biochemistry of ETS proteins in normal development and in human disease.
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The central theme of the Grossman Lab is to understand molecular mechanisms underlying the development and progression of skin cancers. Our past work has focused on survivin, a newly recognized inhibitor of cell death, as a model paradigm to address the role of cell death in both melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer.
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The Holmen lab aims to define critical targets in cancer cells that can become the focus for therapeutic intervention. Because of the high cost of developing new therapies, it is essential that we first identify which genetic alterations can be targeted productively.
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The Jensen Lab is interested in both benign and malignant brain tumor angiogenesis, biology, and developing novel treatment modalities for these tumors. Our hope is to provide cutting-edge approaches to treat both benign and malignant brain tumors and transition these to Phase I human clinical trials.
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The Jette Lab studies the aspects of chemotherapy that hinder cell death and cause resistance to cancer therapy.
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Colorectal cancer is a common malignancy that demands improved diagnosis and treatment. Our long-term goal is to facilitate the development of new treatments and preventive measures for colon adenoma and carcinoma formation.
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The Leachman Lab focuses on the genetics of human melanoma. By using participants who are at very high risk as a model for understanding melanoma, we hope to identify and develop specific prevention and early detection strategies for all melanoma patients.
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The Lessnick Lab studies the molecular mechanisms that underlie the development of pediatric cancer, with a focus on Ewing’s sarcoma. Our ultimate goal is to develop a complete understanding of Ewing’s sarcoma, and to apply this understanding to the clinic to positively impact the treatment of children with cancer.
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The Oliver Lab is interested in understanding mechanisms of therapeutic response and resistance in cancer in order to personalize therapies based on the characteristics of a given tumor. Our approach is to integrate human genomic/sequencing data with mechanistic data gleaned from cell culture systems and biological data from state-of-the-art mouse models of cancer.
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The Rosenblatt Lab studies both cell death and cell division and the roles that the actin and microtubule cytoskeletons play in both processes. Our lab is investigating if extrusion (a contraction that squeezes dying cells out of tissue) could drive cell death in order to control cell numbers.
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The SARC Lab, a division of sarcoma services, is a translational and basic science research laboratory specializing in the molecular genetics of sarcomas and related diseases.
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The Schiffman Lab studies pediatric hereditary cancer syndromes with a special interest in genetic susceptibility to childhood cancers.
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Research in the Stewart Laboratory involves identifying genes and signaling pathways that regulate cell migration during embryonic development. We translate these findings to animal models to determine if these mechanisms are “reactivated” in the spreading of cancer.
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Research in the Tavtigian Lab concentrates on two areas of genetic susceptibility to cancer. The first is identification and characterization of intermediate-risk and high-risk cancer susceptibility genes. The second is analysis of unclassified variants that are observed during the clinical testing of established high-risk cancer susceptibility genes.
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The Topham-Stafforini Lab studies the regulation of cell growth. Our studies on the role of inflammation in cancer development have contributed greatly to understanding how the inflammatory response is controlled and have led to identifying a promising treatment for severe syndromes of inflammation.
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At the Ullman Lab, we are investigating how morphological rearrangements in cell form are coordinated during cell division. We are also studying a protein partnership that we discovered confers aggressive tumor growth. Ultimately, we would like to use information from our projects to gain insight into tumorigenesis as well as to discover targets for new chemotherapy strategies.
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