Laura Sontag

Education:

B.A. Biomathematics and Mathematics, Rutgers University, 2004
Graduate Student, Computational and Systems Biology PhD Program, MIT

Advisors:

Professors Peter Sorger and Douglas Lauffenburger, in collaboration with Professor Tyler Jacks

Research focus:

Computational and experimental analysis of mitogenic signaling pathways activated by a mutation in the K-ras oncogene. The Ras signaling cascade constitutes a major pathway shown to be misregulated due to activating mutations in 30% of all human tumors. The vast majority of mutations occur in K-ras. We use genetically engineered mice that harbor a conditional, activatable allele of the K-ras oncogene as a model of human cancer.

Homepage:

http://www.mit.edu/~sontag/

Publications:

Sontag L.B., Lorincz M.C., Luebeck E.G. Dynamics, Stability and Inheritance of DNA Methylation Imprints. Submitted.

Sontag L., Axelrod D.E. 2005. Evaluation of Pathways for Progression of Heterogeneous Breast Tumors. Journal of Theoretical Biology 232:179-89.