Welcome to the Hall Lab

Research in the Hall Lab is focused on the identification and characterization of genes and signaling pathways that determine susceptibility to skin cancer.  We are especially interested in how cells respond to environmental stress (such as solar UVB-induced DNA damage) when making the decision to live or to trigger regulated cell death. The decision to induce regulated cell death has important implications for tumor development and tumor regression. We are actively studying the role of CCAAT/enhancer binding proteins (C/EBPs), a family of basic leucine zipper transcription factors, in the decision to trigger regulated cell death after DNA damage. Our laboratory’s current focus is to characterize the novel and critical regulatory role of C/EBPβ in cell death decisions involving the tumor suppressor p53 and the type I interferon response. To achieve our research goals we utilize both molecular/cellular-based systems and powerful genetically engineered mouse models to define mechanisms by which these genes and signaling pathways determine susceptibility to skin cancer.