معرفی
Nika Danial is an Associate Professor of Cancer Biology and Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She holds an Affiliate position in the Cell Biology Department at HMS and a second Associate Professor role in the Department of Molecular Metabolism at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her research focuses on the molecular mechanisms governing cellular fuel choice and its impact on health and disease, particularly cancer, diabetes, and neurological disorders.
Dr. Danial received her Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular, and Biophysical Studies from Columbia University and conducted postdoctoral research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute under Stanley J. Korsmeyer. Her lab uses multi-disciplinary approaches, including mouse models, metabolomics, and proteomics, to study metabolic pathways influencing cell fate and function.
Research Themes:
- Metabolic crosstalks regulating inflammation responses
- Role of mitochondrial pathways in cancer heterogeneity
- Neuronal fuel substrate switching in epilepsy
- Glucose-dependent urea cycle protection in β-cells
Funding: Current grants include NIH awards for studies on metabolic adaptations in gliomas (U01CA286537), mitochondrial dynamics in lymphoma (R01CA219850), and cancer metabolism training programs (T32CA236754).
Labs/Teams: Directs the Danial Lab at Dana-Farber, collaborating with institutions like Harvard Chan School and MIT. Research emphasizes translational insights from metabolic discoveries to clinical applications in oncology and metabolic diseases.
