BARBARA J GRAVES, DR portrait
  • Professor, Oncological Sciences
801-585-2887

Research Summary

After discovery of the ETS proteins as transcription factors, Dr. Graves addressed central questions about sequence-specific DNA binding and ETS factor regulation by co-factors and signaling. In collaboration, she determined the structures of major domains and found additional structural elements that enable regulation of specific ETS family members. Later, she provided genome-wide occupancy of ETS factors in T cells. Finally, she has studied the role of ETS proteins in prostate cancer.

Education

  • BA, Biology, Rice University
  • PhD, Zoology, University of Washington
  • Postdoctoral, Basic Science Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
  • Postdoctoral training, Department of Embryology, Carnegie Institute of Washington

Biography

Barbara J. Graves, PhD, is professor of the Department of Oncological Sciences at the University of Utah School of Medicine. She is a member of the Nuclear Control Program of the Huntsman Cancer Institute. Dr. Graves joined the faculty of the University of Utah in 1986 in the Department of Cellular, Viral and Molecular Biology. Upon the foundation of the Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) in 1994 she became one of the founding members of the Department of Oncological Sciences. She served as Department Chair for 10 years as well as Senior Director for Basic Science at HCI for 4 years.

Graves research focuses on how genes are turned on and off by regulatory proteins called transcription factors. Transcription is the process by which genetic code information passes from one cell to another. This gene expression process is essential for normal cell behavior and often goes awry in a cancer cell. A thorough understanding of how transcription factors and other molecular mechanisms control gene expression can lead to innovative new therapies and treatments for a variety of cancers. Graves' is best known for her many contributions to the understanding of the biochemistry and regulation of ETS transcription factors which are altered in human sarcomas, prostate cancer, and a variety of hematological malignancies. She was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2007.

A graduate of Rice University, Graves earned her PhD from the University of Washington and completed postdoctoral training at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and the Carnegie Institute of Washington. Dr. Graves currently spends part of her time in the Washington, DC area serving as a Senior Scientific Officer of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.