Although every cell in the human body has the same amount of DNA, cells use only a fraction of the genetic information available. Much of the extra DNA remains inactive or "silent." In certain cancers, the inappropriate silencing of critical control genes leads to the uncontrolled growth of the tumor.
Using the behavior of a helper T cell during an infection as a model, the laboratory of Steven L. Reiner, M.D., investigates the way cells change their behavior by turning pieces of their DNA "on" or "off." By understanding the mechanical details of how cells choose which genes they use, Reiner hopes to better understand how a normal cell can become cancerous and how to reprogram a cancer cell by manipulating this process.
Background
Dr. Reiner received a B.A. in philosophy from Haverford College in 1982. He received an M.D. degree from Duke University School of Medicine in 1985. He did an internal medicine residency at the New York Hospital - Cornell University Medical College, from 1986 to 1989. In 1989 he moved to San Francisco to do an infectious diseases fellowship at the University of California. After one clinical year, he entered the laboratory of Richard Locksley for postdoctoral research training (1990-1994). In 1994 Dr. Reiner took his first faculty appointment, in the Gwen Knapp Center for Lupus and Immunology Research and the Department of Medicine at The University of Chicago.
