Investigator, Assoc Prof (M) Cutaneous Biology Research Center, Mass General Research Institute

Associate Professor of Dermatology Harvard Medical School

cancer immunology; cell death; cell signaling; gene regulation; genotoxic stress; host-pathogen interactions; mucosal immunity; skin inflammation

Research in the Park laboratory revolves around the question, “How do environmental and endogenous physiological changes reprogram genetically hard-wired molecular pathways directing cell fate and function?” Park and his colleagues address this question by investigating signaling and gene regulatory events in immune disorders and cancer. The goal of this research is to determine the molecular underpinnings of human diseases and devise clinical strategies for their prevention and treatment. The major experimental approaches used in the Park laboratory involve genetic and pharmacological tools for the perturbation of molecular processes in various cell types and biochemical methods for their analysis.

Research focus in the Park lab
Signaling pathways crucial for barrier tissue homeostasis and inflammation
Protein phosphorylation and other biochemical processes driving and regulating barrier tissue inflammation
Targets of matrix metalloproteinase proteolysis in barrier immune homeostasis

Immune sensing and cell signaling in the tumor microenvironment
Host immune sensing of cancer cell senescence and death
Cell signaling and metabolic reprogramming in tumorigenesis and antitumor immunity

Molecular mechanisms mediating host-microbe interactions
Role of the gut microbiota in cytokine signaling and epithelial homeostasis
Host signaling modules co-opted by pathogenic bacteria