|
|
| Name |
Lieberman, Judy |
| Location
|
Harvard Medical School |
| Primary Field
|
Immunology and Inflammation |
 Election Citation
|
|
The Lieberman laboratory is examining the role of inflammatory cell death and killer lymphocytes in cancer and infection and investigating novel strategies for cancer immunotherapy. |
|
Research Interests
|
|
The Lieberman laboratory studies killer lymphocytes and how they eliminate infected or cancerous cells. They study immune pore-forming molecules that damage cell membranes and cytotoxic granule proteases (granzymes) that activate programmed cell death in cells targeted for immune elimination They recently found that killer cells play an important role in immune defense, not only against viruses, but also against bacteria and parasites and activate microbial programmed cell death (""microptosis""). They are currently examining the role of killer lymphocytes in malaria and in protection from infection during pregnancy. Her laboratory recently discovered the molecular mechanism responsible for inflammatory death (pyroptosis) triggered by innate immune recognition of invasive infection and other signs of danger. Their current work is devoted to investigating the role of inflammation in infection and cancer and identifying ways to manipulate it therapeutically. Her laboratory has also been in the forefront of harnessing RNA interference for therapeutics. Currently they are developing aptamer-linked siRNAs for treating cancer. They also investigate the role of noncoding RNAs in regulating cell proliferation, cell differentiation, DNA damage repair and metastasis in cancer. |
|
|
|