Elena Pugacheva, Ph.D.

Grants awarded by NIH and Susan B. Komen for the Cure

Dr. Elena Pugacheva, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and member of the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center in the School of Medicine at WVU, was recently awarded an RO1 to study the role of Hef1 in proliferation and invasion of metastatic breast cancer. Hef1 is an adaptor protein that functions by recruiting other proteins into a complex that controls downstream signaling events. This project will address how Hef1 coordinates signaling through two of its binding partners, Aurora A kinase and histone deacetylase 6. In addition to exploring the molecular mechanisms controlling signaling, the study will also examine the role of these proteins in controlling Hef1-mediated invasion and metastasis.

Elena joined the faculty at WVU in the summer of 2007, following completion of her postdoctoral studies with Dr. Erica Golemis at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. She received her formal scientific education in Moscow, earning her BS and MSc degrees from the Lomonosov Moscow State University, and her PhD from the Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology at the Russian Academy of Science. Elena performed her dissertation work in the laboratory of Dr. Peter Chumakov, and during this time she spent 10 months as a visiting scientist in Dr. Arnold Levine's lab at Princeton.

In addition to receiving her first scientific award from NIH this past spring, Elena also received a Career Catalyst Research grant from the Susan G. Komen for the Cure. This is a prestigious early career award designed to support the development of promising junior investigators. Congratulations Elena...!!