Scott A. Ness received his B.A. in biology at the University of California, San Diego in La Jolla, CA in 1980 and his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1985. He did post-doctoral research at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, in the laboratory of Dr. Thomas Graf, studying oncogenes, transcription and leukemia. Dr. Ness started his own laboratory at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL in 1991 and moved to UNM Health Sciences Center in 1998.
Dr. Ness is a member of AAAS, AACR and is a chartered member of the Cancer Molecular Pathobiology (CAMP) Study Section at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and of the Leukemia, Immunology and Blood Cell Development (LIB) study section for the American Cancer Society (ACS). He is a member of the UNM Cancer Center) where he serves on the Senior Leadership Team in the role of Associate Director of Research: Shared Facilities. He is also Director of the Keck-UNM Genomics Resource, the microarray and genomics facility. Dr. Ness has been continuously funded by the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society and other agencies for over 17 years and is currently supported by two research grants from the National Cancer Institute.
Information about post-doctoral positions in the Ness lab.
The Ness laboratory studies cancer cell biology, the relationship between oncogenes and transcriptional regulation, hematopoietic stem cells and the control of cell fate. Our work focuses on the c-Myb and v-Myb transcription factors, and regulatory proteins that control their activity.
How does a stem cell become a differentiated, specialized cell? How does a normal cell become transformed into a tumor cell? These are the basic questions that the Ness laboratory is addressing. We use a variety of genetic, molecular biology, cell biology and biochemical methods to study how gene regulation changes as cells differentiate from an immature stem cell precursor to a mature, specialized cell. We also study how gene regulation changes when normal cells become tumor cells. By understanding the mechanisms controlling gene expression and the regulation of specific genes in different cell types, during differentiation and during tumorigenesis, we hope to identify novel targets and techniques that could be used for developing new therapeutic or diagnostic approaches to treating leukemias, solid tumors and stem cell diseases.
Find out more about our RESEARCH
See the MEMBERS OF OUR LABORATORY
For information about our graduate program, see the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program web page.
Our laboratory is in the Cancer Research Facility, part of the Health Sciences Center on the North Campus of the University of New Mexico, in Albuquerque, NM.
Post-Doctoral Researchers:
Olivia George
Graduate Students:
Ye E. Zhou
Janeth J. Pena
Research Technicians:
Jennifer B. Woods
Undergraduate Students:
Karissa Aldrete
Lab phone number: (505) 272-3464
