Anna Huttenlocher

1983 BA, Oberlin College
1988 MD, Harvard Medical School
1992 Postdoctoral Fellow, UCSF (Caroline Damsky and Zena Werb)
1994 Postdoctoral Fellow, Univesity of Illinois (Rick Horwitz)

Our research focuses on characterizing the molecular mechanisms that regulate cell migration, and the implications of these mechanisms to human disease, including cancer metastasis and inflammation.

Background

What are the mechanisms that regulate the migration of leukocytes into areas of inflammation? How do tumor cells invade and metastasize? Cell migration plays a central role in many different disease processes including cancer, heart disease, asthma and arthritis. Insight into the mechanisms that regulate cell migration will contribute to our understanding of basic cellular processes, but will also lead to the development of new therapeutic approaches for a wide variety of medical conditions.

Despite extensive interest in the receptors and mechanisms involved during cell migration, many fundamental questions remain unanswered. What are the mechanisms by which a cell initiates and then subsequently stops directional cell migration? How are adhesive events coordinated both temporally and spatially to promote productive, directional cell movements? Our research is aimed at understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate cell migration.