The laboratories of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's Pediatric Oncology Department are concentrated on research in the areas of molecular oncology, immunology, and hematopoiesis. Topics of investigation range from T cell signaling pathways, chromosomal translocations in childhood leukemias and stem cell function to the mechanisms governing chromosome segregation, tumor cell apoptosis, neural crest and cerebellar development. The diversity of research interests demostrated in each of the Department's laboratories is unified by a profound commitment to the development of innovative therapeutic treatements for the prevention and cure of cancers.
Pediatric Oncology News
Computer Thefts
There have been a series of laptop computer thefts on Mayer 6 recently. These computers were locked at the times they were stolen. The circumstances around these thefts indicate that the thief (or thieves) is coming to the floor with the intent of stealing computers and is equipped to break standard Kensington laptop locks. Since these are not casual thefts, it is critical that owners lock their computers in secured drawers/cupboards, out of sight. Also, users should make regular backups on Research Computing's servers to avoid data loss should a theft occur. Finally, all Department members are asked to be vigilant: please encourage and remind other lab members to keep their computers secure and their data backed up, and please report any suspicious activity to DFCI security.
Pediatric Oncology Social Hour
April's Pediatric Oncology Social Hour will be this Friday, April 4th at 5:00PM in the Mayer 660 conference room. Refreshments and pizza will be served. This month's Social Hour is sponsored by Dr. Edward Benz's Laboratory and the pizza is generously provided by
Bio-Rad.
Pediatric Oncology Social Hour
March's Pediatric Oncology Social Hour will be this Friday, March 7th at 5:00PM in the Mayer 660 conference room. Refreshments and pizza will be served. This month's Social Hour is sponsored by Dr. Stuart Orkin's Laboratory and the pizza is generously provided by
Cell Signaling Technology.
Pediatric Oncology Social Hour
January's Pediatric Oncology Social Hour will be this Friday, January 11th at 5:00PM in the Mayer 660 conference room. Refreshments and pizza will be served. This month's Social Hour is sponsored by Dr. Rosalind Segal's Laboratory and the pizza is generously provided by
Miltenyi Biotec.
Pediatric Oncology Social Hour
December's Pediatric Oncology Social Hour will be this Friday, December 7th at 5:00PM in the Mayer 660 conference room. Refreshments and pizza will be served. This month's Social Hour is sponsored by Dr. Andrew Kung's Laboratory and the pizza is generously provided by
Agencourt Bioscience Corporation.
Pediatric Oncology Social Hour
November's Pediatric Oncology Social Hour will be this Friday, November 2nd at 5:00PM in the Mayer 660 conference room. Refreshments and pizza will be served. This month's Social Hour is sponsored by Dr. David Pellman's Laboratory and the pizza is generously provided by
Invitrogen.
Pediatric Oncology Social Hour
October's Pediatric Oncology Social Hour will be this Friday, October 5th at 5:00PM in the Mayer 660 conference room. Refreshments and pizza will be served. This month's Social Hour is sponsored by Dr. Charles Roberts' Laboratory and the pizza is generously provided by
Boston BioProducts.
Pediatric Oncology Social Hour
September's Pediatric Oncology Social Hour will be this Friday, September 7th at 5:00PM in the Mayer 660 conference room. Refreshments and pizza will be served. This month's Social Hour is sponsored by Dr. Kimberly Stegmaier's Laboratory and the pizza is generously provided by
MLB International Corporation.
Pediatric Oncology Social Hour
August's Pediatric Oncology Social Hour will be this Friday, August 10th at 5:00PM in the Mayer 660 conference room. Refreshments and pizza will be served. This month's Social Hour is sponsored by Dr. Loren Walensky's Laboratory and
Gemini-Bio Products.
Pediatric Oncology Social Hour
July's Pediatric Oncology Social Hour will be this Friday, July 13 at 5:00PM in the Mayer 660 conference room. Refreshments and pizza will be served. This month's Social Hour is sponsored by Dr. David Fisher's Laboratory and the pizza is generously provided by
Eppendorf.
Pediatric Oncology Social Hour
June's Pediatric Oncology Social Hour will be this Friday, June 1 at 5:00PM in the Mayer 660 conference room. Refreshments and pizza will be served. This month's Social Hour is sponsored by Dr. Stuart Orkin's Laboratory and the pizza is generously provided by
IDT.
Pediatric Oncology Social Hour
May's Pediatric Oncology Social Hour will be this Friday, May 4 at 5:00PM in the Mayer 660 conference room. Refreshments and pizza will be served. This month's Social Hour is sponsored by Dr. Alan D'Andrea's Laboratory and the pizza is generously provided by
Abcam.
Department Meeting - Integration Of Chromatin Binding And Gene Expression
This Wednesday, May 2 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660, Xiaobo Xia of Dr. Andrew Kung's lab will present a talk entitled:
"Integration Of Chromatin Binding And Gene Expression Reveals Determinants Of Hypoxic Gene Expression And Identifies 2-OG-Dioxygenases As Primary HIF-1 Targets"
Next week there will be a presentation by Erin Kimbrel from Dr. Andrew Kung's lab.
Department Meeting - Suppressors Of Bcl-2
This Wednesday, April 25 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660, Cicely Jette of Dr. Thomas Look's lab will present a talk entitled:
"Searching For Suppressors Of Bcl-2 Using Zebrafish As A Genetic Model System"
Next week there will be a presentation by Xiaobo Xia from Dr. Andrew Kung's lab.
Department Meeting - Phosphorylation Of FANCM
This Wednesday, April 18 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660, Jungmin Kim of Dr. Alan D'Andrea's lab will present a talk entitled:
"Phosphorylation Of FANCM Regulates The Fanconi Anemia Pathway"
Next week there will be a presentation by Cicely Jette from Dr. Thomas Look's lab.
Pediatric Oncology Social Hour
April's Pediatric Oncology Social Hour has hopped into March and will be this Friday, March 30 at 5:00PM in the Mayer 660 conference room. Refreshments and pizza will be served. This month's Social Hour is sponsored by Dr. Edward Benz's Laboratory and the pizza is generously provided by
Hamilton.
Department Meeting - Does Increased Ploidy Change The Evolvability Of Cells
This Wednesday, March 28 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660, Marie Guillet of Dr. David Pellman's lab will present a talk entitled:
"Does Increased Ploidy Change The Evolvability Of Cells?"
Next week there will be a presentation by Ines Pinto from Dr. David Pellman's lab.
Department Meeting - MYB Activation In Human T-ALL
This Wednesday, March 21 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660, Jennifer O'Neil of Dr. Thomas Look's lab will present a talk entitled:
"Tandem Duplication As A Novel Mechanism Of MYB Activation In Human T-ALL"
Please come to support your colleague and enjoy some afternoon snacks.
Department Meeting - Neural Crest Migration And Metastasis Models
This Wednesday, March 7 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660, Rodney Stewart of Dr. Thomas Look's lab will present a talk entitled:
"Neural Crest Migration And Metastasis Models In The Zebrafish"
Next week there will be a presentation by Satoshi Yoshida from Dr. David Pellman's lab.
Pediatric Oncology Social Hour
March's Pediatric Oncology Social Hour will be this Friday, March 2 at 5:00PM in the Mayer 660 conference room. Refreshments will be served. This month's Social Hour is sponsored by Dr. Thomas Look's Laboratory.
Department Meeting - Analysis Of Tetraploidy In Yeast
This Wednesday, February 28 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660, Nicholas Talarek of Dr. David Pellman's lab will present a talk entitled:
"Increased Chromosome Content Induces Changes In The Physiology Of The Cell: Analysis Of Tetraploidy In Yeast"
Next week there will be a presentation by Rodney Stewart from Dr. Thomas Look's lab.
Department Meeting - Chromatin And Stem Cell Pluripotency
Happy Valentines Day! This Wednesday, February 14 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660, Xiaohua Shen of Dr. Stuart Orkin's lab will present a talk entitled:
"Chromatin And Stem Cell Pluripotency"
Next week there will be a presentation by Masayuki Nitta from Dr. David Pellman's lab.
Department Meeting - Chromatin Structure, Intergenic Regulatory Elements In The Nanog Iocus
This Wednesday, February 7 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660, Dana Levasseur of Dr. Stuart Orkin's lab will present a talk entitled:
"Chromatin Structure And Potential Intergenic Regulatory Elements Within The Nanog Iocus"
Next week there will be a presentation by Xiaohua Shen from Dr. Stuart Orkin's lab.
Pediatric Oncology Social Hour
February's Pediatric Oncology Social Hour will be this Friday, February 2 at 5:00PM in the Mayer 660 conference room. Refreshments will be served. This month's Social Hour is sponsored by Dr. Rosalind Segal's Laboratory.
Department Meeting - Genome-Wide Screen Of Yeast Tetraploids
This Wednesday, January 31 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660, Zuzana Storchova of Dr. David Pellman's lab will present a talk entitled:
"Genomic Instability In Cells With Abnormal Numbers Of Chromosomes: Genome-Wide Screen Of Yeast Tetraploids"
Next week there will be a presentation by Dana Levasseur from Dr. Stuart Orkin's lab.
Department Meeting - Extrinsic Regulation Of Hematopoietic Stem Cells
This Wednesday, January 24 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660, Carl Walkley of Dr. Stuart Orkin's lab will present a talk entitled:
"Extrinsic Regulation Of Hematopoietic Stem Cells"
Next week there will be a presentation by Zuzana Storchova from Dr. David Pellman's lab.
Department Meeting - Crosstalk Of Numb Signaling With Neurotrophin Signaling
This Wednesday, January 17 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660, Pengcheng Zhou of Dr. Rosalind Segal's lab will present a talk entitled:
"Crosstalk Of Numb Signaling With Neurotrophin Signaling Regulates Cerebellar Development"
Next week there will be a presentation by Carl Walkley from Dr. Stuart Orkin's lab.
Department Meeting - Budding Yeast Formins Bni1 And Bnr1
This Wednesday, January 10 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660, Shawnna Buttery of Dr. David Pellman's lab will present a talk entitled:
"Budding Yeast Formins Bni1 And Bnr1"
Next week there will be a presentation by Pengcheng Zhou from Dr. Rosalind Segal's lab.
Pediatric Oncology Social Hour
Happy New Year! January's Pediatric Oncology Social Hour will be this Friday, January 5 at 5:00PM in the Mayer 660 conference room. Refreshments will be served. This month's Social Hour is sponsored by Dr. Andrew Kung's Laboratory.
Department Meeting - The Role Of SWI/SNF In S Phase Control And DNA Repair
This Wednesday, December 6 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660, Elizabeth McKenna of Dr. Charles Roberts' lab will present a talk entitled:
"The Role Of SWI/SNF In S Phase Control And Replication-Coupled DNA Repair"
There will be no floor talks for the next few weeks; enjoy the holidays and happy New Year.
Pediatric Oncology Social Hour
December's Pediatric Oncology Social Hour will be this Friday, December 1 at 5:00PM in the Mayer 660 conference room. Refreshments will be served. This month's Social Hour is sponsored by
Dr. David Pellman's Laboratory.
Department Meeting - Emi1 In Zebrafish Myelopoiesis And Human Leukemia
This Wednesday, November 29 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660, Jennifer Rhodes of Dr. Thomas Look's lab will present a talk entitled:
"The Role Of Emi1 In Zebrafish Myelopoiesis And Human Leukemia"
Next week there will be a presentation by Elizabeth McKenna from Dr. Charles Roberts' lab.
Department Meeting - A Novel Apoptotic Pathway Overcoming p53 Loss And bcl-2/xl-Gain
This Wednesday, November 15 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660, Samuel Sidi of Dr. Thomas Look's lab will present a talk entitled:
"A Novel Apoptotic Pathway Overcoming p53 Loss And bcl-2/xl-Gain In Zebrafish Embryos And Human Tumor Cells"
Next week there will be no Department meeting - have an excellent Thanksgiving.
Department Meeting - Fanconi Anemia Pathway In Error-Prone DNA Damage Tolerance
This Wednesday, November 8 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660, Kanchan Mirchandani of Dr. Alan D'Andrea's lab will present a talk entitled:
"A Role For The Fanconi Anemia Pathway In Error-Prone DNA Damage Tolerance"
Next week there will be a presentation by Samuel Sidi from Dr. Thomas Look's lab.
Department Meeting - Distal Axon Stimulation With Neurotrophins
This Wednesday, November 1 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660, Aymeric Hans of Dr. Rosalind Segal's lab will present a talk entitled:
"Distal Axon Stimulation With Neurotrophins Elicit A Specific Pattern Of Gene Expression"
Next week there will be a presentation by Kanchan Mirchandani from Dr. Alan D'Andrea's lab.
Department Meeting - Different Roles Of Melanocytes
This Wednesday, October 25 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660, Rutao Cui of Dr. David Fisher's lab will present a talk entitled:
"Different Roles Of Melanocytes"
Next week there will be a presentation by Aymeric Hans from Dr. Rosalind Segal's lab.
Department Meeting - Snf5 In Lymphocyte Development
This Wednesday, October 18 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660, Xi Wang of Dr. Charles Roberts' lab will present a talk entitled:
"Snf5 In Lymphocyte Development And Tumorigenesis"
Next week there will be a presentation by Rutao Cui from Dr. David Fisher's lab.
Pediatric Oncology Social Hour
October's Pediatric Oncology Social Hour will be this Friday, October 13 at 5:00PM in the Mayer 660 conference room. Pizza and refreshments will be served. This month's Social Hour is sponsored by
Brinkmann-Eppendorf and Dr. Roberts' laboratory.
Research Server Account Migration
DFCI Research Computing is in the process of replacing its data servers. Many members of the Pediatric Oncology Department have accounts on these servers (e.g., ressrv7, ressrv9, rcbig, rcbig1) and will be affected. Due to the large number of user accounts and the volume of data involved, it is not possible to move these user accounts overnight/on weekends. In order to mitigate the inconvenience to each user, accounts will be migrated to the new servers sequentially. Over the next week, each day, several user accounts will be moved onto the new systems. Each user account will be unavailable while it is being moved. After an account has been moved, it will be accessible only from its new location on the ressrv12 server.
This process will begin on Monday, October 2nd. Research Computing will move all of the accounts in each lab consecutively. The laboratory groups will be processed in the following order:
Dr. Alan D'Andrea's Lab
Dr. David Rowitch's Lab
Dr. Todd Golub's Lab
Dr. Stuart Orkin's Lab
Dr. Charles Roberts's Lab
Dr. Thomas Look's Lab
Dr. Rosalind Segal's Lab
Dr. David Pellman's Lab
Dr. David Fisher's Lab
In advance of this transition, please create local copies of any data that you may need while your server account is being moved. Once your account has been moved, you will be able to access all of your data via the ressrv12 server. We are hoping that each user will experience, at most, 1 day of downtime.
Instructions for accessing the research servers are available from the Pediatric Oncology Computer Support website
here.
Please note that prior to the account migration, accounts are and will be accessible from the older servers (e.g., ressrv7, ressrv9, rcbig, rcbig1, etc.); after the move, accounts will be accessible only from the new ressrv12 server.
Please alert other members of your laboratory that may be affected by this process. The transition to the new ressrv12 server should provide more storage capacity and data security to our Department and will facilitate file sharing, collaboration, and account administration by consolidating all Department accounts onto a single server. After the migration of existing accounts is complete, we will be accepting applications for new user accounts (a future email will inform you when the new application process is online). We apologize in advance for any inconvenience. If you have any problems please contact
Curtis Glavin or
Jennifer Mushlin of Pediatric Oncology. Additionally, you may contact Matthew Temple (
mht@research.dfci.harvard.edu) or Hong Zhang (
Hong_Zhang@dfci.harvard.edu) of Research Computing (they will be handling the account migration).
Department Meeting - cAMP Pathway Stimulation And Skin Pigmentation
This Wednesday, October 11 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660, Mehdi Khaled of Dr. David Fisher's lab will present a talk entitled:
"cAMP Pathway Stimulation And Skin Pigmentation"
Next week there will be a presentation by Xi Wang from Dr. Charles Roberts' lab.
Department Meeting - iLab Laboratory Management Software
This Wednesday, October 11 at 3:00PM in Dana 621, Andreas Hagen, Tad Fallows, and Sriram Gollapalli of iLab Solutions will be presenting their proposal for the development and integration of a laboratory management system for the Pediatric Oncology Department. The attendance of all laboratory managers and PIs is requested.
Department Meeting - Consequences Of Snf5 Tumor Suppressor Loss
This Wednesday, October 4 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660, Courtney Sansam of Dr. Charles Roberts's lab will present a talk entitled:
"Cellular Consequences Of Snf5 Tumor Suppressor Loss"
Next week there will be a presentation by Guang Yang from Dr. Edward Benz's lab.
Department Meeting - The Pathogenesis Of T-Cell ALL
This Wednesday, September 27 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660, Gutierrez Alejandro of Dr. Thomas Look's lab will present a talk entitled:
"Unraveling The Pathogenesis Of T-Cell ALL Using The Zebrafish Model System"
Next week there will be a presentation by Courtney Sansam from Dr. Charles Roberts's lab.
Department Meeting - Knockout Of A MicroRNA Gene
This Wednesday, September 20 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660, Jochen Hartner of Dr. Stuart Orkin's lab will present a talk entitled:
"Knockout Of A MicroRNA Gene Associated With Cancer"
Next week there will be a presentation by Alejandro Gutierrez from Dr. Thomas Look's lab.
Pediatric Oncology Social Hour
September's Pediatric Oncology Social Hour will be this Friday, September 15 at 5:00PM in the Mayer 660 Conference Room. This month's Social Hour is sponsored by
Dr. Fisher's laboratory.
Department Meeting - Anti-Apoptotic Protein Bcl-w
This Wednesday, September 13 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660, Stephanie Courchesne will present a talk entitled:
"The Anti-Apoptotic Protein Bcl-w: Functions Beyond Survival"
Next week there will be a presentation by Jochen Hartner from Dr. Stuart Orkin's lab.
Department Meeting - New Web Applications For Management And Collaboration
This Wednesday, May 3 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660, Curtis Glavin will present a talk entitled:
"New Web Applications For Management And Collaboration In Pediatric Oncology"
Next week there will be a presentation by Martin Cohn from Dr. Alan D'Andrea's lab.
Pediatric Oncology Social Hour
April's Pediatric Oncology Social Hour will be this Friday, April 28 at 5:00PM in the Mayer 660 Conference Room. This month's Social Hour is sponsored by
Dr. Benz's laboratory.
Department Meeting - Sonic Hedgehog Mitogen Response
This Wednesday, April 26 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660, Jennifer Chan of Dr. Rosalind Segal's lab will present a talk entitled:
"Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycans Localize And Modulate The Sonic Hedgehog Mitogen Response"
Next week there will be a presentation by Curtis Glavin.
Department Meeting - The Role Of Deubiquitination In DNA Damage Tolerance
This Wednesday, April 19 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660, Tony Huang of Dr. Alan D'Andrea's lab will present a talk entitled:
"The Role Of Deubiquitination In DNA Damage Tolerance"
Next week there will be a presentation by Jennifer Chan from Dr. Rosalind Segal's lab.
Department Meeting - HOXB9 Overexpression In A Subset Of Acute Myeloid Leukemia
This Wednesday, April 12 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660, Stefan Heinrichs of Dr. Thomas Look's lab will present a talk entitled:
"HOXB9 Overexpression In A Subset Of Acute Myeloid Leukemia: Prevalence And Potential Role In Transformation"
Next week there will be a presentation by Tony Huang from Dr. Alan D'Andrea's lab (Guang Yang's talk will be rescheduled).
Department Meeting - Budding Yeast Kinesin Kip3 Regulates Microtubule Dynamics
This Wednesday, April 5 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660, Mohan Gupta of Dr. David Pellman's lab will present a talk entitled:
"The Budding Yeast Kinesin Kip3 Regulates Microtubule Dynamics To Facilitate Spindle Positioning"
Next week there will be a presentation by Stefan Heinrichs from Dr. Thomas Look's lab.
Openlab Training
This Thursday, March 30 in Dana 605, there will be training on the recently upgraded Openlab software/microscope. Beginner sessions will be given in the morning, advanced sessions in the afternoon. All microscope users should attend training. Please contact
Vivien to schedule an appointment.
Department Meeting - Dysregulation Of The MiT Factor Family In Melanoma
This Wednesday, March 29 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660, Laura Poling of Dr. David Fisher's lab will present a talk entitled:
"Dysregulation Of The MiT Factor Family In Melanoma"
Yoojin Choi's talk will be rescheduled. Next week there will be a presentation by Mohan Gupta from Dr. David Pellman's lab.
Department Meeting - Searching For Suppressors Of BCL-2
This Wednesday, March 22 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660, Cicely Jette of Dr. Thomas Look's lab will present a talk entitled:
"Searching For Suppressors Of BCL-2 Using Zebrafish As A Genetic Model System"
Next week there will be presentations by Laura Poling from Dr. David Fisher's lab and Yoojin Choi from Dr. Rosalind Segal's lab.
Pediatric Oncology Social Hour
March's Pediatric Oncology Social Hour will be this Friday, March 17 at 5:00PM in the Mayer 660 Conference Room. There will be pizza and refreshments. This month's Social Hour is sponsored by
Dr. Look's laboratory and
IDT Primer Synthesis.
New Website
The Pediatric Oncology Department website has been updated. It is still under construction, but will soon provide floor meeting schedules, personnel profiles, event schedules, recent publications lists, and lots of important and useful information on the workings of the Department. Please check this page often for updated announcements. Please contact
Curtis if you have any suggestions for the site.
Department Meeting - P53 Promotes Pigment Production
This Wednesday, March 15 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660, Rutao Cui of Dr. David Fisher's lab will present a talk entitled:
"P53 Promotes Pigment Production By Transcriptional Activation Of The Pro-Opiomelanocortin (POMC) Gene"
Next week there will be a presentation by Cicely Jette from Dr. Thomas Look's lab.
PI And Lab Manager Meeting
There will be an organizational meeting for PIs and Lab Managers this Wednesday, March 8 at 4:00PM in Mayer 660. There will be no floor meeting this week. Next week, floor meeting will be presented by Rutao Cui from Dr. Fisher's laboratory.
Nano Drop Spectrophotometer
The Department has recently acquired a Nano Drop Spectrophotometer. This device is located in Room M659. Additional information about the instrument is available from the manufacturer
here.
Facscaliber Computer Upgrade
The Facscaliber computer has been upgraded from OS 9 to Mac OS 10.4. User accounts and data from the old OS 9 system have been transfered to the new system. If you have any issues with the new configuration, please contact
Curtis or
Vivien.