Rachel J. Buchsbaum, MD Principal Investigator Rachel J. Buchsbaum AB, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA MD, Cornell University Medical College, New York, NY Residency in Internal Medicine, Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, MA Fellowship in Hematology and Oncology, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA Post-doctoral Training, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA I became interested in cancer research during medical school and residency. During my early fellowship training in Hematology and Oncology I explored the biology of B and T lymphocytes and the role of cytotoxic T lymphocytes in murine models of EBV-associated lymphoproliferative disease. I subsequently became interested in using the molecular biology of signal transduction to investigate pathways underlying cancer cell invasion and metastasis. My laboratory joined the Molecular Oncology Research Institute in the fall of 2003.

Soumitra Rajagopal, PhD Postdoctoral Fellow Soumitra Rajagopal BSc, Microbiology/Biochemistry, SIES College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Bombay, India MSc, Medical Biochemistry, T.N. Medical College, University of Bombay, India MS, Biochemistry, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska PhD, Microbial Physiology/Microbial Genetics, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska I am studying the effect of scaffold proteins on Tiam1 activation of Rac pathways and their role in cell growth, survival, and motility.  To do this I am developing FRET-based assays and using knock-out models in both normal and transformed cells.

Kun Xu, PhD Research Associate Kun Xu BS, Genetics, Heilongjiang Agricultural University , China MS, Veterinary Medicine, Western College of Veterinary Medicine , Canada PhD, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Maine , Orono , Maine I am studying a novel pathway we have identified involving Tiam1 and cell cycle regulation.  My project is to determine the functional significance of this pathway in breast cancer cells.