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Dr. Murugabaskar Balan

Research Fellow
Dept. of Medicine, Children's Hospital Boston Harvard Medical School
 

Brief Biography:


My research interest is to study the Interferon signal transduction pathways in tumor cells; My past research works are primarily focused on understanding the signaling mechanism(s) of the cytokines and Cytokine receptors, involved in survival and killing of cancer cells. Currently, I have developed interest in studying tumorigenic pathways that are critical in the progression of breast cancer cells through the modulation of Interferons and Chemokines signaling. Specifically, I am interested in dissecting the signal transduction pathways in relation to apoptosis and autophagy of the breast cancer cells, leading to identification of novel therapeutic drug targets for the treatment of breast cancer.
 

Academic positions:


Education 1. 2003: B.Tech; Anna University, India 2. 2010: University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, NJ 3. 2010: University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ 4. 2012: Harvard Medical School (Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA) Positions and Honors 1. 2004-10: Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, NJ 2. 2010-2012: Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Department of Medicine, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ & Roger Williams Medical Center, Providence, RI 3. 2012: Research Fellow, Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School & Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA Other Experience and Professional Memberships 2010: Member, International Society for Interferon and Cytokine Research Honors and Awards: 1. 2003: Honors in Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) in Biotechnology 2. 2010: Graduate Student Research Award, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
 

Research interests:


Interferon signaling, Anti-tumor properties of Interferons, Cytokine and Chemokine signaling in cancer cells.
 

Any other information:


Publications 1. Scaglione BJ, Salerno E, Balan M, Coffman F, Landgraf P, Abbasi F, Kotenko S, Marti GE, Raveche ES. 2007. Murine models of chronic lymphocytic leukemia: role of microRNA-16 in the New Zealand Black mouse model. Br J Haematol 139:645-65 2. Huang J, Smirnov SV, Lewis-Antes A, Balan M, Li W, Tang S, Silke GV, Putz MM, Smith GL, Kotenko SV. 2007. Inhibition of type I and type III interferons by a secreted glycoprotein from Yaba-like disease virus. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 104:9822-9827. 3. Li W, Lewis-Antes A, Huang J, Balan M, Kotenko SV. 2008. Regulation of apoptosis by type III interferons. Cell Prolif 41:960-979Pal S., Datta K., and Mukhopadhyay D. Central role of p53 on regulation of vascular permeability factor/vascular endothelial growth factor (VPF/VEGF) expression in mammary carcinoma. 2001. Cancer Research. 61: 6952-6957. 4. Alagappan D, Lazzarino DA, Felling RJ, Balan M, Kotenko SV, Levison SW. 2009. Brain injury expands the numbers of neural stem cells and progenitors in the SVZ by enhancing their responsiveness to EGF. ASN Neuro. 5. Abushahba W, Balan M, Castaneda I, Yuan Y, Reuhl K, Raveche E, de la Torre A, Lasfar A, Kotenko SV. 2010. Antitumor activity of type I and type III interferons in BNL hepatoma model. Cancer Immunol Immunother 59:1059-1071. 6. Lasfar,A., W.Abushahba, M.Balan and K. A. Cohen-Solal (2011). "Interferon lambda: a new sword in cancer immunotherapy." Clin Dev Immunol 2011: 349575. 7. Balan M, Lasfar A, Abushahba W, Smirnov S, Kotenko SV. Vaccinia virus encoded type I Interferon antagonist can efficiently suppress IFN signaling independently of IFN binding. Journal of Virology, in correspondence.
 

What I think of the idea behind WebmedCentral:


Open Access and Post publication peer review will speed up the process of publishing an scientific article and helps the growing scholarly need of the scientific community.