tRNA modifications & codon-biased translation in cancer

Richard I. Gregory. Ph.D. is Professor and Chair of the Department of Molecular, Cell, and Cancer Biology at UMass Chan Medical School. Prior to this he was the Department of Pediatrics Stem Cell Biology Chair in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at Boston Children’s Hospital, Professor in the Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, at Harvard Medical School (HMS), and Co-Director, of the HMS Initiative for RNA Medicine. He received a Ph.D. from Cambridge University for his research performed at the Babraham Institute. He did postdoctoral work at the Fox Chase Cancer Center and the Wistar Institute, Philadelphia. His research focuses on understanding molecular and cellular mechanisms of RNA regulation and the relevance of these pathways in stem cell biology, development, and human diseases including cancer. Most recently, his lab has been focused on the role of RNA modifications – the epitranscriptome, in cancer biology. Notably, they identified oncogenic roles for the mRNA methyltransferase (MTase) METTL3 and the tRNA MTase METTL1 in numerous cancer types. Their work is supported by an outstanding investigator award from the National Cancer Institute.

 

Scientific accomplishments have been published broadly in major journals, such as Nature, Cell and Science, and include pioneering studies that: