Lee Zou, Ph.D. – VAI Seminar Series

ATR, replication stress, and targeted cancer therapy

Speaker Information

Lee Zou, Ph.D.
Chair, Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology
Duke University School of Medicine

• Abstract/Bio: Dr. Lee Zou is Chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology at Duke University School of Medicine. Before moving to Duke this year, he was a full Professor at Harvard Medical School and Scientific Co-Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cancer Center. He was also the James & Patricia Poitras Endowed Chair in Cancer Research and a Co-Leader of the Cancer Cell Biology Program at the Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC), an NCI designated comprehensive cancer center encompassing multiple Harvard institutions. Dr. Zou is an internationally recognized leader for the research of DNA damage response and genomic integrity. His lab has made major contributions to the understanding of the pathways sensing and signaling DNA damage in human cells, particularly the mechanisms by which the ATR checkpoint pathway responds to DNA replication stress. Recent studies from Dr. Zou’s lab have discovered novel vulnerabilities of cancer cells arising from replication stress and potential therapeutic targets, offering new opportunities for targeted cancer therapy. Several clinical trials have been launched based on Dr. Zou’s findings. Dr. Zou servers on editorial/advisory boards of a number of prestigious research journals, including Molecular Cell, Cancer Research, Molecular and Cellular Biology, and Journal of Biological Chemistry.
• Host: Huilin Li, Ph.D.