The Logic of TGF-ß Signaling
Joan Massagué, Ph.D.
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
The 2005 Klaus Hofmann Lecture will feature Dr. Joan Massagué, an internationally recognized expert on the control of cell growth. He is chairman of the Cancer Biology and Genetics Program at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, where he holds the Alfred P. Sloan Chair; professor of cell biology at the Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences of Cornell University; and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.
Dr. Massagué and his colleagues elucidated the fundamental machinery that conveys growth inhibitory signals from the cell membrane to the nucleus. Combining biochemistry and genetics, they then identified the TGF-ß receptors and their mechanism of activation. Dr. Massagué has built on this foundation to reveal that mechanisms along the TGF-ß pathway are crucial in embryonic development and, when disrupted, can contribute to tumor formation and metastisis.
Dr. Massagué's lecture will take place at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday 6 October in the 7th floor auditorium of Alumni Hall.