City of Hope’s Department of Molecular Biology, originally Molecular Genetics, was formed in 1982 under the direction of Keiichi Itakura, Ph.D., professor of molecular biology. Research interests in the department include an array of biological systems and problems, but the unifying theme is mechanisms regulating expression of genetic information at both the transcriptional level (where DNA directs the synthesis of RNA) and the post-transcriptional level (meaning how genes control protein synthesis from newly-transcribed RNAs).
The department includes eight independent laboratories as well as the DNA/RNA Peptide Synthesis core facility, overseen by Bruce Kaplan, Ph.D. and the Electron Microscopy core facility, overseen by Marcia Miller, Ph.D. Other activities of the Department of Molecular Biology involve a state-of-the-art facility for peptide synthesis and modified RNA-DNA oligonucleotide synthesis.
Investigators within the department actively collaborate with investigators in the medical center, making important contributions to clinical investigations at City of Hope. The faculty also collaborates with the wider academic and scientific community. Faculty members have served numerous leadership roles, including with the National Institutes of Health, American Cancer Society and the Army Breast Cancer Research Program.
Department faculty members also teach and mentor graduate students in City of Hope’s
Graduate School of Biological Sciences. The Department offers students the opportunity to carry out research in genetics, developmental biology, molecular genetics, molecular biochemistry, cell biology, molecular virology, and molecular and cellular immunology.