Ali Shilatifard
Ali Shilatifard, PhD, is the Robert Francis Furchgott Professor and Chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, and a Professor of Pediatrics, at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. He is also the Director of the Simpson Querrey Institute for Epigenetics.
As a Jane Coffin Childs postdoctoral fellow, Shilatifard made a seminal contribution to the field of leukemia biology by identifying the first function of any of the mixed-lineage leukemia (MLL) translocation partners, which is when a section of one chromosome changes place with that of another chromosome, creating a mutation. In the 20 years since that discovery, he has dedicated his career to revealing the causes of childhood leukemia and other cancers, and providing detailed molecular insight into the role of epigenetics in cancer.
Research from his laboratory is leading to the development of promising, epigenetic target-specific drugs for childhood leukemia and other forms of cancer. The epigenetic inhibitors developed in the laboratory are currently being tested to treat childhood leukemia, brain cancer, and other solid tumors. His lab has been continuously funded by multiple grants from the National Cancer Institute, the National Institutes of Health, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the American Cancer Society to conduct this research.
