Birthday: 9/25
Year Entered Program: 2002
B.S., Molecular and Cell Biology, Cornell University
Graduate Advisor: Dr. Craig Malbon

Dr. Feigin successfully defended his dissertation entitled, "Identification and functional characterization of novel proteins regulating Wnt/b catenin signaling" on 12/06/07.  He is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, in the lab of Dr. Senthil K. Muthuswamy. 

Research Interests (2006):

I am currently studying the function of G-proteins in the Wnt signaling pathway. This signal transduction cascade plays important roles in many processes, such as development, cellular proliferation, and differentiation. Mutations in several of the protein components of the pathway have been linked to cancers of the colon, as well as other defects. The pathway is activated when a secreted Wnt ligand binds to Frizzled, a seven-transmembrane receptor on the cell surface. This receptor has recently been shown to be G-protein coupled. However, the direct downstream effectors of the G-protein have yet to be determined. The goal of my research is to elucidate the mechanism by which Frizzled, through its linked G-protein, can signal to downstream components of the Wnt pathway.