Ron M. Prywes, PhD

Dr. Richard Prywes, Professor of Biological Sciences at Columbia University, holds a Ph.D. in Biology from MIT and a B.A. in Biophysics from the University of Pennsylvania. His research focuses on cell signaling and transcriptional regulation in cancer. He identified Serum Response Factor (SRF) as a transcriptional regulator of immediate early genes and studied how SRF coactivators MKL1 and MKL2 link cytoskeletal changes to gene regulation via the RhoA pathway, relevant in cancer progression.

Dr. Prywes also elucidated ATF6 activation in the ER stress response and recently investigated how oncogenic signaling triggers epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in breast cells through p63 repression, facilitating metastasis. He has actively contributed to graduate education, co-directing the Graduate Studies program and co-founding the department's Masters in Biotechnology program.