Elizabeth Black, PhD

One hallmark of cancer is dysregulation of core cellular processes, including protein production or translation. One crucial element of translation is determining where protein production begins, a process called translation start site selection. It is estimated that a third of human genes contain multiple translation start sites, but because they are invisible in standard experiments, it is not understood how they change in diseases like cancer. Dr. Black aims to identify how leukemia and lymphoma cells control translation start site selection and how this impacts their behavior and disease outcomes. By uncovering how translation control is altered in blood cancers, this research can reveal fundamental insights into cancer biology that have been previously overlooked. Dr. Black received her PhD from Yale University, New Haven, and her BS from Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem.