Elena Pobezinskaya
Elena Pobezinskaya, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor

Office phone: 413-545-2405
Email: pobezinskaya [at] umass [dot] edu
Office location: 427 WestE ISB
Mailing address:
661 North Pleasant Street
Amherst, Mass 01003
Ph.D.: Cancer Research Center (Moscow, Russia)/Jackson Lab (Bar Harbor, ME), 2002
MS: Moscow State University, Russia
Postdoctoral Training: Cell and Cancer Biology Branch, NIH/NCI
Awards: Fellows Award for Research Excellence, 2009
Our research is focused on identification and characterization of tumor-associated microRNAs (miRNAs) and understanding their function in physiological and pathological settings.
MiRNAs have been implicated in multiple biological processes, including development, differentiation and transformation of tissues and organs. Some miRNAs are considered to be tumor suppressor or oncogenic miRNAs (oncomirs) and their expression in different tumors is downregulated or upregulated, respectively. Recent studies have suggested involvement of oncomirs in initiation and progression of cancer, metastasis and chemotherapy-resistance. Mechanisms of action of these miRNAs are just starting to emerge. Transcriptional regulation of oncomir expression is also largely unknown.
Understanding the function of oncomirs in health and disease, identifying their target genes and elucidating the ways to manipulate their expression may lead to development of new exciting strategies for anti-cancer therapies.