Understanding Cell Signaling in Disease
Information, incorrectly shared or communicated, can cause misunderstanding and result in incorrect actions. What is true in business or interpersonal relationships is also true in biology at the molecular level. Cell “miscommunications” are the basis for the research and technologies being developed by Dr. Michael J. Comb ’76, founder, president, and CEO of Cell Signaling Technology, Inc. headquartered in Danvers, MA.
Cell Signaling Technology was established in 1999 and has become the world leader in interpreting cell signaling pathways, which are cells that transmit information resulting in cellular responses. Understanding these signaling pathways is crucial to understanding the development of disease such as cancer, where some pathways become mutated and cause abnormal cell growth, driving the illness.
Dr. Comb’s research is helping to identify which pathways are broken so appropriate therapies and drugs can be administered. Because the cell mutations that drive cancer are very different from person to person, the response must also be targeted to the individual patient needs. And so, pinpointing cell signaling pathways is also resulting in more accurate diagnosis and advancing the development of personalized medicine to treat cancer.
Dr. Comb '76 speaking about his career and research in Memorial Hall
on November 16, 2011.
A chemistry major at UMass, Dr. Comb went on to receive his doctorate degree from the University of Oregon. He was the director of the Laboratory of Molecular Neurobiology at Massachusetts General Hospital and an associate professor of Neuroscience at Harvard Medical School before he founded Cell Signaling Technology. The company now employs over 350 scientists and researchers worldwide.
Dr. Comb returned to campus as a visiting scholar with the Eleanor Bateman Alumni Scholar in Residence program. He gave a talk entitled “New Horizons in Personalized Cancer Therapies" on November 16 in Memorial Hall.