Expertise
Dr. D'Urso's research interests include: cell cycle control of DNA replication, cell cycle checkpoints, and cell cycle control in stem and progenitor cells.
Dr. D'Urso's laboratory investigates the mechanisms that control DNA replication initiation in eukaryotic cells and studies the checkpoint controls that prevent mitosis in the absence of a complete round of DNA synthesis or in response to DNA damage.
Since processes regulating DNA replication and repair are highly conserved in evolution, the D'Urso lab is investigating how these checkpoint controls may have relevance to human cells and to the responses of normal and malignant cells to chemotherapeutic agents and DNA damage.
We are interested in using the yeast S. pombe as a model to explore the function of human genetic variants. We take advantage of the genetic tractability of yeast and vast set of genomic tools available to investigate gene-gene and gene-drug interactions in this organism. This information is then used to guide experiments in mammalian cells.