Xaralabos Varelas

Dr. Xaralabos (Bob) Varelas is a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry & Cell Biology at Boston University School of Medicine, where he serves as Principal Investigator of the Varelas Lab. His research focuses on molecular mechanisms directing cell fate decisions during development, homeostasis, and disease, with emphasis on Hippo-YAP/TAZ signaling pathways.

Education includes:

• PhD from University of Alberta (Edmonton, Canada)
• Postdoctoral training at Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital (Toronto, Canada)

Research interests span Hippo-YAP/TAZ signaling, lung epithelial biology, cancer biology, tissue regeneration, fibrosis, and immune cell regulation. The lab employs molecular/genetic approaches to study transcriptional regulators YAP/TAZ across biological contexts including cancer progression, lung injury repair, and immune modulation.

Recent publications demonstrate strong focus on:

• Hippo pathway dysregulation in cancer microenvironments
• Stem cell applications in lung regeneration
• Epithelial-immune crosstalk mechanisms
• Computational modeling of cellular signaling networks

with frequent use of single-cell analyses and genetic engineering techniques.

Dr. Varelas actively mentors graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, with current advisees including PhD and MD/PhD candidates studying lung injury, cancer biology, and immune evasion. The lab maintains collaborations with institutions globally.

The Varelas Lab investigates fundamental mechanisms of cell signaling through wet-lab and computational approaches, with ongoing projects in mammary carcinoma, pulmonary fibrosis, and head/neck cancer biology.