Angela Christiano and Lorraine Symington Elected to the National Academy of Sciences

Two faculty members of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia have been elected to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Announced on April 27, Angela Christiano, PhD, and Lorraine Symington, PhD, have joined the newest class of NAS members, recognized for their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.

Drs. Christiano and Symington join Dr. Molly Przeworski, a fellow faculty member at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, who was also elected to the 2020 class of 120 members and 26 international members.

An expert in alopecia areata, an autoimmune form of hair loss, Dr. Christiano is a member of the HICCC’s Cancer Genomics and Epigenomics research program, the Richard and Mildred Rhodebeck Professor of Dermatology, and professor of genetics and development at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. She focuses on understanding the genetic and molecular mechanisms that underlie inherited skin and hair disorders in humans, and her lab’s research has led to the identification of potential therapeutic targets for this disorder, in particular, the use of JAK inhibitors for the treatment of alopecia areata. Most recently, Dr. Christiano and her collaborators have  begun  applying the lessons learned from autoimmune mechanisms in alopecia toward improving anti-tumor immune responses in melanoma. Her group has published more than 350 papers in peer-reviewed journals and has trained more than 50 postdoctoral researchers and clinical fellows at Columbia.

“Although our work in the laboratory has long focused on understanding the genetics and mechanisms of disease, our goal has always been to bring these discoveries to the clinic to develop new and effective treatments for patients,” says Dr. Christiano, who also is vice chair of research in Columbia’s Department of Dermatology. “I am both humbled and deeply grateful for this recognition by the National Academy of Sciences for our lab’s research on skin and hair disorders.”

Dr. Symington, a member of the HICCC’s Cancer Genomics and Epigenomics research program and the Harold S. Ginsberg Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Columbia, studies how the cell repairs harmful DNA damage. When both strands of DNA break, homologous recombination is the main mechanism for repair, and defects in this repair mechanism have been associated with increased mutagenesis and cancer. The Symington lab investigates this important pathway using budding yeast as a model system. They have developed innovative genetic assays to identify the genes that function in this pathway and used molecular tools to investigate their mechanism of action. Her research has led to new insights into the role of homologous recombination in maintaining genome integrity and suppression of tumorigenesis.

“I am thrilled to be elected to the National Academy of Sciences,” says Dr. Symington. “Especially during the current time, some good news is welcome.”