Postdoctoral Fellow (2003-2006)

Department of Cell Biology,

Harvard Medical School

Dr. Steven P. Gygi, advisor
 

Postdoctoral Fellow (2001-2003)

Division of Basic Sciences,

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Dr. Jonathan A. Cooper, advisor
 

Ph.D.(2001)

Department of Cell Biology,

Harvard Medical School

Dr. John Blenis, advisor
 

 Research Interests

    Research in the Ballif lab is primarily focused on elucidating molecular mechanisms of signal transduction with two major emphases: (A) genetically-defined signaling pathways regulating mammalian brain development and (B) core signaling  pathways regulating cell proliferation, growth and survival. In addition to biochemical and cell biological approaches, we employ mass spectrometry-based proteomics as a primary tool to simultaneously monitor hundreds to thousands of proteins, their modifications and their interactions with other proteins following acute signal administration or across developmental stages.
        A second focus of our work involves developing and applying proteomic methodology to advance diverse lines of biological inquiry, some of which have had little to no interface with proteomics. This makes these projects both exciting and challenging. These collaborative projects range from the identification of novel human blood group antigens; to the identification of host proteins that interact with arenavirus proteins; to targeted proteomic characterizations of wasps, pitcher plant ecosystems, ants, fruit flies, unicellular ciliates and parasitic protozoa.         

---

 Thanks to our Funding Sources