Projects

The Freeman Lab consists of an ever changing number of graduate students and undergraduates, a technician and (of course) one advisor Dr. Robert Freeman. Each member of the Lab has his or her own specific project designed to better understand the molecular mechanisms of programmed cell death (a.k.a. apoptosis) and survival in nerve growth factor-dependent neurons. The lab is essentially broken down into two groups. The "Survival Group" and the "Death Group".  Bob Crowder (currently a post-doc at Washington University in St. Louis) and Patrick Sarmiere have initiated projects aimed at identifying and characterizing the NGF-dependent signal transduction pathways that regulate cell survival. Liz Lipscomb (currently a post-doc at Harvard), Robert Burch, Daphne Hasbani (an MD/PhD student at Washington Univ.), Eileen Yoshida, and Jennifer McDonnell have focused their efforts on the characterization of a novel protein called SM-20 that induces cell death in neurons.

Robert Crowder: The role of the PI3-Kinase and Akt pathway in the survival of sympathetic neurons.

Liz Lipscomb: Mitochondrial localization of SM20 and its significance for SM-20 induced neuronal death.

Patrick Sarmiere: The role of the NF-kappa B family of transcription factors in cell survival of sympathetic neurons.

Robert Burch: SM-20 interacting proteins.

Eileen Yoshida: SM-20 function in vivo and expression in the nervous system.

Jennifer McDonnell: Characterizing the significance of SM-20 for cell death.

Leah Larocque: Purification of recombinant SM20 protein and anti-SM20 antibodies.