David F. Stern, Ph.D.

Training:

B.S. (Biology) Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 1976
Ph.D. (Biology) University of California, San Diego, CA, Salk Institute 1983 with SIT Kennedy and BM Sefton
Postdoctoral, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge MA with RA Weinberg

Expertise:

Cancer Biology: signal transduction by HER2/ErbB2 and other EGF family receptor tyrosine kinases; EGF family receptors in breast cancer and mammary development; DNA damage checkpoint signaling; functional and genetic analysis of cancer

Research Interests:

1. The receptor tyrosine kinase ErbB2/HER2 drives 25% of breast cancers. This receptor is the target for two drugs in use for breast cancer treatment, Herceptin/Trastuzumab and Tykerb/Lapatinib. In order to understand why this receptor is so important in human cancer, and to improve therapeutic targeting of ErbB2/HER2, we investigate normal and pathological functions of this receptor in mammary tissue. Our work spans from fundamental studies on signal transduction to analysis of ErbB2 in human cancer. ErbB2 works in close partnership with other members of the EGF receptor (ErbB family) of tyrosine kinases, so we also study differential signaling by the three related receptors (EGF receptor [HER]), ErbB3 [Her-3], ErbB4[Her4).

2. Checkpoint controls function as quality controls that supervise cell cycle progression. Such controls are of great interest because of their role in cell cycle regulation, and because they are commonly altered in human cancer. We are investigating signal transduction in DNA checkpoint control pathways. This involves analysis of checkpoint signaling in both budding yeast and humans, with the focus on the double-strand DNA break response pathway encompassing tumor suppressor gene Atm and Chk2/Rad53, and mediator proteins NFBD1/MDC1, 53B1, BRCA1, and MCPH1.

3.The growing availability of cancer drugs that target receptors and other signaling proteins has created a need to develop integrated methods for best matching of patients to the appropriate target drugs. We are investigating use of DNA-based and functional approaches for predicting response to targeted therapies, in breast cancer and melanoma.

Professional Service:

Assistant Director of Basic Research, Yale Cancer Center
Co-Leader, Signal Transduction Research Program, Yale Cancer Center
Co-Director, Medical Genomics, Yale Center for Genomics and Proteomics

Advisory Committee, Division of Biological Sciences, Yale University
Director, Anna Fuller Predoctoral Training Program
Director, Anna Fuller Postdoctoral Training Program
MD/PhD Faculty Committee

Course Director, Pathology 650b: Cellular and Molecular Biology of Cancer

Editorial Board, Molecular Cellular Biology

Selected Publications: