Gail Sonenshein, PhD

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Tufts CTSI

Dr. Gail Sonenshein has a long track record of mentoring graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and junior colleagues, as well as supporting individuals through to independent funding. During her tenure at Boston University and Tufts University, Dr. Sonenshein has had the pleasure of training 33 PhD or MD/PhD graduate students and 24 postdoctoral fellows, many of whom currently hold faculty positions in academia or are working in biotech companies in the US or abroad. Her laboratory research focuses on breast cancer, and has made seminal contributions to understanding the roles and regulation of nuclear oncogenes/transcription factors, including the Myc and the NF-κB family. The overall research goals are to identify drugable targets and to develop novel treatment modalities for breast cancer. Ongoing projects include: (1) identification of downstream mediators of NF-κB signaling as potential targets or biomarkers, with particular emphasis on the transmembrane protein ADAM8; (2) elucidation of the mechanism whereby the propeptide domain of Lysyl oxidase propeptide (LOX-PP) suppresses Ras signaling and strategies for its delivery; (3) testing of the ability of the green tea polyphenol EGCG, which has low toxicity and inhibits stem-like cells, in combinatorial therapies for inflammatory breast cancer.