Helen Piwnica-Worms | |
---|---|
Born | 1957 (age 66–67) |
Spouse | David R. Piwnica-Worms |
Children | 2 |
Academic background | |
Education | BA, Biology, 1979, St. Olaf College PhD, microbiology and immunology, 1984, Duke University School of Medicine |
Thesis | Characterization of ribonucleic acids synthesized in vivo and in vitro by vesicular stomatitis virus (1984) |
Academic work | |
Institutions | MD Anderson Cancer Center Washington University School of Medicine Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center |
Helen Margaret Piwnica-Worms (born 1957) is an American cell-cycle researcher. Since 2013,she has served as vice provost of science at the MD Anderson Cancer Center and professor in MD Anderson's Department of Cancer Biology.
Piwnica-Worms was born in 1957. [1] She received her undergraduate degree in biology from St. Olaf College in 1979 and a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from Duke University. [2]
After completing her postdoctoral training at the Dana–Farber Cancer Institute (1988),she held a non-tenure track instructor position at Dana–Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard University (1988-1989). Piwnica-Worms joined the faculty at Tufts University School of Medicine (1989-1992). [2] Between 1992 and 1994,she was an associate professor at Dana-Farber and Harvard. [3] In 1994,she moved to Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) who were recruiting experts in cell cycle control. [4] She was subsequently appointed the Gerty T. Cori Professor and Chair of Cell Biology and Physiology and Professor of Internal Medicine,and served as the associate director of Basic Science at the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center. [2] During her tenure at WashU,Piwnica-Worms's research focused on the regulation of the human cell division cycle and how perturbation in its control contributes to human cancer. [5] As such,she began testing ways to use CHK1 inhibitors to stop damaged cells from dividing. [4] During this time,Piwnica-Worms was named a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2007. [6]
As a result of her research,Piwnica-Worms was promoted to head of the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology at Washington University School of Medicine in 2011. [7] In 2013,Piwnica-Worms was recruited to join the MD Anderson Cancer Center as their vice provost of science and professor in MD Anderson's Department of Cancer Biology. [8] During this time,she was also elected a member of the National Academy of Medicine for advancing the understanding and treatment of cancer. [9] In 2019,Piwnica-Worms and her research team discovered that triple-negative breast cancer cells could develop resistance to frontline,or neoadjuvant,chemotherapy by transiently turning on molecular pathways that protect the cells. [10]
Piwnica-Worms is married to her high school sweetheart,radiologist,and biochemist David R. Piwnica-Worms. [11] They have a daughter and a son.
Stanley Joel Korsmeyer was an American research scientist known for his work on B cell lymphomas and apoptosis. Born and educated in the US state of Illinois,Korsmeyer spent most of his career as a professor at Washington University School of Medicine and later the Dana–Farber Cancer Institute. He rose to prominence in the early 1980s as a research fellow at the National Cancer Institute. There he co-discovered the genetic cause of most cases of the cancer follicular lymphoma –the misregulation of the gene Bcl-2. Korsmeyer went on to start his own laboratory at Washington University in St. Louis,further studying the role of Bcl-2 in cell biology. His group's work expanded the paradigm of cancer-causing genes,providing the first example of how interfering with programmed cell death could lead to cancer development. Korsmeyer authored over 250 scientific papers over the course of his career. He was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences at the age of 45. Korsmeyer died of lung cancer in 2005,at the age of 54.
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David M. Livingston was the Deputy Director of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center,Emil Frei Professor of Genetics and Medicine at Harvard Medical School,Chairman of the Executive Committee for Research at Dana–Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Livingston joined the Harvard faculty in 1973. His research focused on breast and ovarian cancer.
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Roy S. Herbst is an American oncologist who is the Ensign Professor of Medicine,Professor of Pharmacology,Chief of Medical Oncology,and Associate Director for Translational Research at Yale Cancer Center and Yale School of Medicine in New Haven,Connecticut.
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David Piwnica-Worms is an American radiologist and biochemist. He is the Gerald Dewey Dodd Jr.,Endowed Distinguished Chair in Diagnostic Imaging and a professor of Cancer Systems Imaging and Professor of Cancer Biology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. He also serves as the chair of the Department of Cancer Systems Imaging at the same institution.