Associate Professor Paul A. Johnston, PhD is co-investigator with primary investigator Jennifer Grandis from Otolaryngology of NIH grant titled STAT Mediated TGF-a/EGFR Signaling in Squamous Cell Carcinomas of Head & Neck.
The signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 protein (STAT3) can be activated by phosphorylation performed by various cellular kinases, and activated STAT3 is involved in the development, progression and maintenance of many cancers, including head and neck tumors.
The purpose of the grant is to study the effects of protein tyrosine phosphatase, receptor type D (PTPRD, a phosphatase that regulates a variety of cellular processes including cell growth, differentiation, mitotic cell division, and the development of cancer), mutations on growth factor mediated STAT3 signaling and the cancer drug responses of head and neck tumors.
Johnston is a research associate professor in the pharmaceutical sciences department at the School of Pharmacy.
