Ronald L Heimark, PhD

Cancer Biology Program

Biography

Ronald L. Heimark received his B.A in Biology/Chemistry from Western Washington University and obtained his Ph.D in Biochemistry from the University of California at Davis working with John Hersey on translation. He did a Postdoc at the University of Washington with Earl Davie working on activation protease of complexes, and then with Steven Schwartz investigating cadherin adhesion molecules in vascular biology and angiogenesis. In 1990 he became an Affiliate Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Washington and a founding member of the ICOS Corp. scientific team. He joined the University of Arizona as an Associate Professor in 1993 and was promoted to Full Professor.

Cancer Focus

Our goals are to identify molecular pathways that distinguish between localized and aggressive disease investigating mechanisms governing prostate epithelial. Prostate cancers are comprised of distinct cell types driven by genetic instability and cellular differentiation programs. Epithelial-Mesenchymal-transition (EMT) is associated with increased levels of transcriptional repressors, including SNAI1/2, Twist1 and Zeb1/2 and downregulation of epithelial genes and increased motility. Subtypes of EMT are now established that are generated by alternative mechanisms and result in distinct cell populations, including Prostate Cancer Stem Cells. Our research focuses on: identifying suppressor genes associated with regulating EMT pathways and their mechanism; identifying the roles stem cell microRNAs and their target genes.