We are nestled in a scenic river valley abutting the Vermont-New Hampshire border that is home to the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College

Research in the Ahmed Lab

Wnt Signaling in Development and Disease

Our lab focuses on the mechanisms that control Wnt signal transduction, a pathway that is critical for the development of all animals and for stem cell maintenance in adult organs. Deregulation of Wnt signaling is associated with many human diseases, including nearly all colorectal cancers. We use genetics, biochemistry, and cell biology approaches to study the pathway. We are focusing on these major unsolved questions:

1. How is the Wnt receptor complex assembled and activated?

2. How are the negative regulators of the pathway inhibited when Wnt is present?

3. What nuclear proteins control Wnt-dependent target gene activation?

Our long-term goal is to elucidate the mechanisms that control Wnt signaling during animal development and to use this knowledge to identify control points in the pathway susceptible to therapeutic targeting in Wnt-driven diseases.

Rotation projects will focus on new components in the Wnt signal transduction pathway with therapeutic potential that we have recently identified through genome-wide screens.

Graduate student rotations and postdoc applications are encouraged.

If interested, please contact yashi@dartmouth.edu