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Richard A. Steinman, M.D., Ph.D.
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Research Overview: Our laboratory studies cancer and cellular differentiation. Basic questions which we are addressing include: Why do hematopoietic stem cells remain quiescent for long periods of time? We are characterizing and dissecting molecular controls of this phenomenon. These studies will shed light on the regulation of cell numbers in the blood both in cancer and during normal development. Another question is what coordinates the exit from the cell cycle as blood cells undergo terminal differentiation. We are using structure-function mutations and tandem affinity purification techniques to examine how cdk-inhibitors and regulatory proteins such as C/EBP isoforms choreograph these transitions. This work should help to clarify how normal differentiation is blocked in leukemias. We are using direct protein transduction techniques to modulate pathways involving cdk-inhibitors both in leukemias and other cancers. Another question which we are studying is why cancer cells grow past confluence? Our approach to this question examines the response of STAT signaling pathways to cell confluence. Goals outside the laboratory include optimizing knowledge and understanding of cancer in the community. Projects have included development of a trading card game teaching about cancer and research examining ways to make health websites more accessible to low-literacy individuals. A collaboration with Hampton University, a highly-respected minority-training institution, seeks to develop a cancer curriculum at Hampton.
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