Timothy F Kowalik

Dr. Timothy F Kowalik is a Professor in the Department of Microbiology at UMass Chan Medical School's T.H. Chan School of Medicine. He also holds multiple appointments across the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in Cancer Biology, Immunology and Microbiology Program, Interdisciplinary Graduate Program, MD/PhD Program, Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program, and Translational Science.

Dr. Kowalik received his B.S. in Biology and Mathematics from Belmont Abbey College in 1982, followed by his M.S. (1986) and Ph.D. (1989) in Molecular Biology and Virology from Utah State University. He completed postdoctoral research on virus-cell interactions from 1990-1993 at the Lineberger Cancer Center of the University of North Carolina, and continued his postdoctoral studies from 1993-1996 in the Department of Genetics at Duke University Medical Center, where he analyzed the relationship between the cell cycle and apoptosis. During this period, he was a Fellow of the Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Cancer Research Fund and a Leukemia Society of America Special Fellow.

Dr. Kowalik's research focuses on cellular and organismal studies of viral infections, particularly how viruses manipulate cellular proliferation control. His laboratory investigates how DNA tumor viruses trick infected cells into proliferative states by subverting normal homeostatic controls, with specific emphasis on Rb and p53 tumor suppressors. Current projects examine the paradoxical relationship between growth activation by E2F1 overexpression and p53-dependent apoptotic cell death, as well as the consequences of Rb and p53 targeting by large DNA tumor viruses including members of the herpesvirus family. His recent publications (2023-2025) demonstrate continued active research on cytomegalovirus pathogenesis, viral transmission mechanisms, and host-virus interactions using primate models and molecular techniques.

Notable scientific awards include being a Fellow of the Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Cancer Research Fund and a Leukemia Society of America Special Fellow during his postdoctoral training.

Dr. Kowalik's laboratory maintains active research programs with rotation projects for graduate students and postdoctoral opportunities focused on understanding why E2F1 is unique among the E2F family in its strong apoptosis signaling ability and determining the pathways that lead from E2F1 activation to cell death. His team employs cell culture, virology, and animal models to study aspects of cell cycle, apoptosis signaling, and cancer.