Katherine Aird, PhD

The Aird lab has two main areas of investigation: 1) mechanisms and pathological implications of cellular senescence; and 2) metabolic reprogramming during tumorigenesis in ovarian cancer and melanoma. More information can be found at: airdlab.com

1) The mechanisms and pathological implications of cellular senescence.  Cellular senescence is a stable cell cycle arrest that plays a role in both cancer and aging. While some aspects of senescence are beneficial, such as the tumor suppressive loss of proliferation, others are detrimental. For instance, expression of the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) promotes chronic inflammation, which has negative effects on the senescent cell and tumor microenvironment. The lab is particularly interested in the intersection between metabolism, the epigenome, and the microenvironment during senescence.  Understanding the mechanisms of how cells undergo and overcome senescence, and its role on the microenvironment, may lead to novel therapeutic strategies for both cancer and aging.
 
2) Metabolic reprogramming during tumorigenesis.  It is well-appreciated that cellular metabolism is altered in tumors as an adaptive response to nutrient- and oxygen-poor conditions. However, in the past few years, it is becoming more apparent that metabolism is changed early in tumorigenesis and may contribute to driving tumorigenic phenotypes. The lab aims to characterize and mechanistically probe the role of altered metabolism in the earliest events in tumorigenesis. Projects are related to: 1) how metabolites affect histone modifications to influence DNA damage response and repair; and 2) how tumor suppressors such as p16 and ATM affect metabolic programs outside of their canonical roles. These mechanistic insights will lead to novel targets to explore for therapeutic intervention.