Signal Transduction and Human Disease

Dr. Toren Finkel is Chief of the Cardiovascular Branch, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health (NIH, DHHS). He received his undergraduate training in physics and then completed a combined M.D./Ph.D. program at Harvard Medical School. Following graduation he pursued an internal medical residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and a Cardiology Fellowship at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore. His laboratory has been interested in the role of oxidants as signaling molecules and the participation of free radicals in human disease.

Dr. J. Silvio Gutkind is Chief of the Oral and Pharyngeal Cancer Branch, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health (NIH, DHHS). He received his Ph.D. in pharmacy and biochemistry from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. His laboratory has addressed the molecular basis of cancer by studying normal and aberrant functions of molecules involved in the transduction of proliferative signals. He also leads a multi-institutional effort aimed to elucidate the molecular changes that contribute to the evolution of squamous cell carcinomas.