Alea Mills

Alea Mills is a Professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, leading the Mills Laboratory and serving as Faculty Head of the Animal Shared Resource within the Cancer Center. She is affiliated with the Cancer Center, the Stanley Institute for Cognitive Genomics, and the Gene Regulation and Inheritance departments. Mills earned her Ph.D. in 1997 from the University of California, Irvine.

Her research focuses on the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms underlying cancer, aging, and neurodevelopmental disorders like autism. Central to her work is the study of chromatin regulation and its role in diseases such as glioblastoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and senescence. Key projects include investigating the tumor suppressor gene CHD5, the p63 protein family, and chromatin remodeling complexes in cancer progression.

Recent publications highlight advancements in glioblastoma treatment through epigenetic reprogramming, the role of ΔNp63α in cancer stemness, and the impact of chromatin modifiers like BRD8 and EZH2. Mills has also contributed to understanding autism using mouse models of 16p11.2 microdeletion.

In 2012, she was honored with the 'Woman of the Year in Health/Medicine' award. Her lab collaborates extensively, with a focus on translating basic research into therapeutic strategies. Current efforts include exploring novel targets for cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, alongside investigating the molecular basis of cellular senescence and aging.