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.
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. The Ness lab uses genomics and bioinformatics approaches in combination with biochemistry, molecular biology and cellular biology. We apply these various types of tools to perform highly innovative basic and translational research
Short narrative description of research:
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.