jill bargonetti

Title:“Choreostorming our Understanding of Cancer Biology.”

Description: The cell cycle is centrally regulated by the tumor suppressor protein p53. The fine-tuned p53 regulation pathway is often disrupted in cancer cells. This happens through multiple different molecular mechanisms. We work to understand the molecular mechanisms that drive aggressive cancers through mutation of p53 and oncogenic p53 signaling disruptors. Scientific hypothesis development in this cancer space requires multimodal thinking that incorporates kinesthetic elements to assist in coordinating the many levels of molecular communication in cancer biology. We make use of choreography as metaphor, three-dimensional thinking, and actual body movements to demonstrate how we might form testable hypotheses to better target what has become thought of as an un-targetable pathway. This talk will describe the choreostorming process which 1) uses a non-binary art and science approach to teach the molecular biology of cancer; 2) articulates cellular processes to cancer patients in order to empower them to understand the biology of what they are experiencing; and 3) assists cancer scientists in developing hypotheses through kinesthetic and visual enactment of cellular work. We will describe some new cancer findings through the gain-of-function mutant p53 signaling lens which we are making a targetable cancer pathway.

Dr. Jill Bargonetti is a native New Yorker. She went to Hunter College Elementary School and High School and then transferred to the Bronx High School of Science. She earned her B.A. at the State University of New York College at Purchase and her Ph.D. at New York University and did postdoctoral work at Columbia University. She serves as chair of the Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology subprogram of the Ph.D. Program in Biology at The Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY) and as professor of biological sciences at the CUNY Graduate Center, Hunter College and Weill Cornell Medical College. Since 1994, She has been running the Bargonetti cancer biology laboratory, where her team is using genetically engineered tools to research breast cancer and other cancers.

Office: City University of New York (CUNY) at the Graduate Center and Hunter College; Weill Cornell Medical College
Email:bargonetti@genectr.hunter.cuny.edu 
Website: http://bargonetti.bioweb.hunter.cuny.edu/