Alan D'Andrea, MD
| Department | Hematology/Oncology |
 |
| Hospital Title | Director, Clinical Gene Therapy Center | |
| Academic Title | Professor of Pediatrics | |
| Phone | 617-632-2112 | |
| Fax | 617-632-5757 | |
| Alan D'Andrea | ||
| Location |
44 Binney Street Boston MA 02115 |
Research Overview
The D'Andrea laboratory is interested in the molecular events involved in normal blood cell formation and in the molecular cause of leukemia and other cancers. A major focus of the lab is the normal, physiologic activation of the cell surface receptor for erythropoietin, particularly in the early signal transduction events that follow cytokine activation, such as activation of JAK kinases and STAT transcription factors, and in later events, such as the induction of cytokine-specific genes. D'Andrea and colleagues have identified and cloned a family of cytokine-inducible deubiquitinating enzymes that regulate hematopoietic cell growth by controlling the ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis of intracellular growth regulatory proteins.
The lab is also pursuing the molecular cause of Fanconi anemia--a human autosomal recessive disease characterized by spontaneous chromosome breakage, bone marrow failure, and cancer susceptibility. Cells from FA patients are hypersensitive to ionizing radiation (IR) and to the DNA crosslinking agent, mitomycin C (MMC). These cells have a defect in DNA repair. The researchers have isolated cDNAs corresponding to six of the eight Fanconi anemia complementation groups.
About Alan D'Andrea
Alan D'Andrea received his MD from Harvard Medical School. He completed a residency in pediatrics at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, a fellowship at Children's Hospital Boston and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and a research fellowship at the Whitehead Institute of Biomedical Research.
Dr. D'Andrea has received the Award of Merit, Fanconi Anemia Scientific Symposium, 2002; E. Mead Johnson Award for Research in Pediatrics; Society for Pediatric Research, 2001;Scholar Award, Leukemia Society of America, 1995; Markey Scholar Award, 1990; and Excellence in Research Award, American Academy of Pediatrics, 1997.
Key Publications
- Howlett NG, Taniguchi T, Olson S, Cox B, Waisfisz Q, de Die-Smulders C, Persky N, Grompe M, Joenje H, Pals G, Ikeda H, Fox EA, D'Andrea AD. Biallelic inactivation of BRCA2 in Fanconi anemia. Science 2002; 297: 606-609.
- Nakanishi K, Taniguchi T, Ranganathan V, New HV, Moreau LA, Stotsky M, Mathew MG, Kastan MB, Weaver DT, D'Andrea AD. Interaction of FANCD2 and NBS1 in the DNA damage response. Nature Cell Biology 2002; 4: 913-20.
- Shimamura A, Montes de Oca, R, Svenson J, Haining N, Moreau L, D'Andrea AD. A novel diagnostic screen for defects in the Fanconi anemia pathway. Blood 2002; 100: 4649-54.
