Health Discoveries in General Health News
New institute focuses on molecular causes of disease
August 11, 2010
A new research institute has been formed to focus on the molecular causes of cancer, autoimmune disorders and cardiovascular diseases.
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine has formed the Institute of Signal Transduction to create a better understanding of how cells react to hormonal signals from receptors on their surfaces or from other cells when damaged or under stress.
"To understand disease you have to understand the fundamental mechanisms that can go awry at the molecular level. Those mechanisms are regulated by signaling molecules that activate different signaling pathways," said Tarun Patel, director of the new institute. "If you find what has gone awry, then that allows you to identify targets. Once you identify targets, you can try to find new drugs and therapies that modulate their activities to treat diseases."
A signal transduction study under way within the North Shore-LIJ Health System is investigating how benign tumors caused by human papilloma viruses alter the cellular signaling pathways that regulate cell growth and differentiation. The principal investigator is Bettie M. Steinberg, professor of otolaryngology at Long Island Jewish Medical Center.
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine has formed the Institute of Signal Transduction to create a better understanding of how cells react to hormonal signals from receptors on their surfaces or from other cells when damaged or under stress.
"To understand disease you have to understand the fundamental mechanisms that can go awry at the molecular level. Those mechanisms are regulated by signaling molecules that activate different signaling pathways," said Tarun Patel, director of the new institute. "If you find what has gone awry, then that allows you to identify targets. Once you identify targets, you can try to find new drugs and therapies that modulate their activities to treat diseases."
A signal transduction study under way within the North Shore-LIJ Health System is investigating how benign tumors caused by human papilloma viruses alter the cellular signaling pathways that regulate cell growth and differentiation. The principal investigator is Bettie M. Steinberg, professor of otolaryngology at Long Island Jewish Medical Center.