Reuven Agami Group

Biography

Reuven Agami performed his PhD research (Thesis: Cell cycle and apoptosis control induced by the tyrosine kinase c-Abl) within the department of molecular genetics at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. During his research he identified a novel DNA-damage-induced apoptosis pathway. As a post-doc in the group of Rene Bernards he investigated rapid molecular events that initiate a p53 independent DNA damage response. In September 2001 he started his own group at the Netherlands Cancer Institute, which consists now of a senior postdoc, six postdocs, three PhD students and two technician. His group developed first an RNAi vector system (pSUPER) to stably knockdown genes in mammalian cells, and then used it to identify novel human tumor suppressor genes. Subsequently, his group developed a microRNA expression vector and library and used it to identify oncogenic miRNAs.

Research Interest

Agami team is studying the role of non-protein coding RNAs and protein translation in cancer metastasis, cellular response to cancer therapy, and acquired resistance. The team characterizes novel RNA functions, and tests their impact on cancer progression. Their goal is to drive lab discoveries to the benefit of cancer diagnosis and therapy.