Prof. Fornace, Jr., Albert Joseph
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Professor , Georgetown University (GTU) and
Director of Waters Center of Innovation for Metabolomics at GTU ;
previously Director of the John B. Little Center for the Radiation
Sciences and Environmental Health at Harvard
University
Washington DC, USA
Professor Fornace is a highly recongnised scientist of Biochemistry, Molecular & Cellular Biology and Oncology and he works mainly in the field of DNA damage and Repair, stress response (oncogenic and genotoxic), functional genomics and metabolomics in stress response. Prof. Fornace, , is committed to researching how environmental stresses can cause normal cells to become cancerous—and is developing ways to stop this from occurring or to exploit differences between normal and malignant cells therapeutically.
His innovative work in the area of cellular responses to radiation and other environmental toxins has earned him the Molecular Cancer Research Chair at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. Prof. Fornace, the first recipient of the Chair, joined Georgetown in 2006 from Harvard School of Public Health, where he was the director of John B. Little Center for the Radiation Sciences and Environmental Health. As the Molecular Cancer Research Chair, he is investigating what happens to cells when they are stressed, for example by toxic substances or oncogenes revealing thus the processes underlying development of cancer and other diseases.
His research has shown that diseases develop when stress-related signals inside the cell alter the expression of multiple genes involved in cell-cycle control, programmed cell death, and DNA damage processing. In addition to his research on the molecular pathways of cancer, Prof. Fornace is also studying cellular stress responses on a broader level. By understanding genome-wide response to stresses like radiation or chemical toxins, he would be able to develop biomarkers to detect exposure in humans. He is specifically looking for markers in both gene expression and metabolites which can be detected in easily obtainable samples like urine, blood, and saliva. With this kind of test available, emergency response personnel would be able to identify and triage patients who are significantly exposed.
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Prof. Fornace,
Jr., Albert
Joseph
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