Julian A. Martinez-Agosto, MD, PhD, FACMG

Dr. Julian Martinez is interested in understanding the common signal transduction pathways across cancer predisposition genetic syndromes, in particular Noonan, Costello, Craniofaciocutaneous, Neurofibromatosis and overgrowth syndromes (Sotos, Beckwith-Wiedemann, Weaver, Simpson-Golabi-Behmel) and their associated malignancies: neuroblastoma, sarcomas, and leukemias.

To this end, Dr. Martinez utilizes Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism in which to study the cellular and genetic mechanisms that lead to oncogenesis due to the signal transduction pathways disrupted in these syndromes.

Tieu KS, Tieu RS, Martinez-Agosto JA, Sehl ME. Stem cell niche dynamics: from homeostasis to carcinogenesis. Stem Cells Int. 2012 Feb 9;2012:367567.

Mondal BC, Mukherjee T, Mandal L, Evans CJ, Sinenko SA, Martinez-Agosto JA, Banerjee U. Interaction between differentiating cell- and niche-derived signals in hematopoietic progenitor maintenance. Cell. 2011 Dec 23;147(7):1589-600.

Chang VY, Quintero-Rivera F, Baldwin EE, Woo K, Martinez-Agosto JA, Fu C, Gomperts BN. B-acute lymphoblastic leukemia and cystinuria in a patient with duplication 22q11.21 detected by chromosomal microarray analysis. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2011 Mar;56(3):470-3. Epub 2010 Nov 28

Sinenko SA, Mandal L, Martinez-Agosto JA, Banerjee U. Dual role of wingless signaling in stem-like hematopoietic precursor maintenance in Drosophila. Dev Cell. 2009 May;16(5):756-63.

Martinez-Agosto JA, Mikkola HK, Hartenstein V, Banerjee U. The hematopoietic stem cell and its niche: a comparative view. Genes Dev. 2007 Dec 1;21(23):3044-60.