Our Science – Meier Website

Jordan L. Meier, Ph.D.

Chemical Biology Laboratory Head, Molecular Recognition Section Investigator Center for Cancer Research National Cancer Institute Building 376, Room 228 P.O. Box B Frederick, MD 21702-1201 Phone:   301-846-1929 Fax:   301-846-6033 E-Mail:   jordan.meier@nih.gov

Biography

Dr. Meier received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from Creighton University in 2004, getting introduced to research as an National Science Foundation REU student. Following graduation he moved to the University of California-San Diego, performing graduate research in natural products biochemistry and proteomics under the mentorship of Professor Michael D. Burkart. After receiving his Ph.D. in chemistry in 2009, he moved to the California Institute of Technology. His research as an American Cancer Society postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Professor Peter B. Dervan focused on the development of high-throughput sequencing methods to analyze small molecule-DNA interactions.

In 2013, Dr. Meier joined the NCI, where his research focuses on synthetic molecular approaches to study and modulate cofactor-mediated signaling pathways at the interface of cancer cell metabolism and gene expression.

Research

Molecular Recognition of Cofactor-Utilizing Enzymes
Enzyme cofactors link cellular metabolism with regulation of gene expression through the activity of chromatin-modifying enzymes. A major goal of the laboratory is the development high-throughput approaches for the discovery of specific probes of cofactor-utilizing enzymes, providing new inhibitor scaffolds and diagnostic agents for profiling cofactor-mediated signaling pathways in cancer cell lines and clinical isolates.

Metabolic Activation of Epigenetic Signaling
Recent studies have shown that many enzymes active in epigenetic mechanisms of genomic regulation are sensitive to the metabolic state of the cell. A second focus of the lab is on understanding the mechanisms by which metabolic perturbations influence protein-protein interactions mediated by chromatin modifying enzymes. In the long term we hope to identify small molecule agents targeting metabolism that reverse epigenetic patterning and disrupt signaling pathways necessary for cancer growth and proliferation.

This page was last updated on 3/23/2013.