Jefferson Scientist Named Editor-in-Chief of Prestigious Pathology Journal
Renowned
cell biologist Michael P. Lisanti, M.D., Ph.D., the Margaret Q.
Landenberger Professor in Breast Cancer Research at Jefferson Medical
College of Thomas Jefferson University and the Kimmel Cancer Center at
Jefferson in Philadelphia, has been named Editor-in-Chief of The American Journal of Pathology (AJP). His term begins in July.
Dr. Lisanti, who serves as director of the newly established Jefferson Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine Center,
is also professor of Cancer Biology at Jefferson Medical College.
Few
cell biologists can point to research with such wide-reaching
implications as Dr. Lisanti, who is an expert in the field of caveolae
and caveolin proteins. These proteins, which play important roles in
cell communication, are also involved in the development of a number of
diseases and conditions, such as cancer, atherosclerosis, diabetes,
Alzheimer’s disease and muscular dystrophy. Dr. Lisanti’s research has
focused primarily on caveolin-1, the most abundant and widespread of
the caveolin proteins. His work provides the best evidence to date that
caveolin-1 functions as a tumor suppressor – that is, it blocks the
development of tumors – in mammalian cells.
His
group was among the first to create a mouse strain lacking the
caveolin-1 gene, establishing a model system to study the role of the
loss of caveolin-1 in breast cancer development. His team found that a
known mutation in the caveolin-1 gene is present in approximately 19
percent of all breast cancers that are fed by estrogen – so-called
“estrogen receptor-positive” cells.
A recipient of many awards and honors, Dr. Lisanti is the 13th
most cited scientist in biochemistry and biology in the scientific
literature in the last decade. Dr. Lisanti came to Jefferson in 2006
from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, where he was
professor of molecular pharmacology and medicine.
The American Journal of Pathology
is published by and serves as the official journal of the American
Society for Investigative Pathology (ASIP). In a statement from ASIP,
President Mark L. Tykocinski, M.D., summarized the selection process by
saying, “Dr. Lisanti’s scientific curiosity and personal dynamism
energize those around him, and we are excited by what his vision and
creativity can bring to the AJP and to disease pathogenesis research as
a whole.”
“We
congratulate Michael Lisanti on his well deserved appointment as
Editor-in-Chief,” adds Kimmel Cancer Center director Richard Pestell,
M.D., Ph.D., chair of the Department of Cancer Biology at Jefferson
Medical College. “His widely recognized expertise in a number of fields
makes him uniquely qualified for the position.”
The American Journal of Pathology is the top-ranked journal in field of pathology (Source: Thomson’s Journal Citation Reports).
Media Only Contact:
Steve Benowitz
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
Phone: (215) 955-6300
Published: 3/31/2008