Discovering Cancer Mechanisms Through Tumor Viruses
The DeCaprio Lab investigates how polyomaviruses reprogram host-cell regulatory networks to drive cancer. We combine virology, cancer biology, functional genomics, and mechanistic biochemistry to determine how viral oncoproteins alter cell-cycle, chromatin, and tumor-suppressor pathways and to identify therapeutic vulnerabilities in Merkel cell carcinoma.
Our current research centers on three interconnected areas:
Merkel cell polyomavirus and cancer. We study how the viral Large T and Small T antigens transform cells and contribute to the development of Merkel cell carcinoma.
MYCL and the Tip60-EP400 complex. We discovered that Small T antigen recruits L-MYC/MYCL to the Tip60-EP400 complex, creating dependencies such as MDM2 and LSD1/KDM1A that may be therapeutically actionable.
Cell-cycle and tumor-suppressor networks. Building on our discovery of the mammalian DREAM complex, we investigate how DREAM, RB, p53, and related regulatory pathways control proliferation in normal and malignant cells.
Our goal is to translate fundamental discoveries in viral oncology into new strategies for treating aggressive cancers.
Supporting Our Research
Recent News and Highlights
We are looking for strong postdoctoral fellows to join our group!
If you are interested in a post-doc position in the DeCaprio lab, please send an email to James_DeCaprio at dfci.harvard.edu with a cover letter describing your past research, your future goals, and why you would like to join the DeCaprio Lab. Please include your CV and contact information for 3 references who can speak on your scientific achievements. Strong training in the following areas are a plus: cancer biology, virology, molecular biology. We are looking for postdocs who have published in high quality international journals, and are motivated to acquire fellowships to support your work at Harvard & DFCI.
7.20.26 Drs. Joana Rodrigues and Chiara Mazziotta give oral presentations at the 2026 DNA Tumour Virus Meeting in Cambridge, UK
7.14.26 New paper! Camille Cushman in Communications Biology “PRMT5 inhibition disrupts detained intron splicing and impairs ATR signaling with increased DNA damage”
7.01.26 New paper! Varsha Ananthapadmanabhan in JCI Insight “Targeted degradation of MDM2 overcomes feedback regulation of p53 signaling in Merkel cell carcinoma models”
6.25.26 Congratulations to Dr. Julia Schnabel for successfully defending her dissertation!
6.04.26 The DeCaprio Lab welcomes Evan Zhang and Benji Richards as student summer interns. Welcome, Evan and Benji!
5.28.26 Congratulations Dr. Mandlin Almousa on graduating the Oral Medicine/Oral Oncology residency training at BWH/DFCI!
4.27.26 Julia Schnabel presents invited talk at the 4th International Merkel Cell Carcinoma Symposium in Boston
1.28.26 Dr. Chiara Mazzotta receives a prestigious Mentored Research Award from the Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation to Accelerate Neuroendocrine Cancer Treatments and Cures. Congrats, Chiara!
1.25.26 Dr. Mandlin Almousa receives 2 awards: The Lester Burket Memorial Award from the American Academy of Oral Medicine. Mandlin is the recipient of this year’s Lester Burket Memorial Award presented at the 2026 AAOM annual meeting “Immune Intelligence in Oral Medicine: Bridging Oncology, Autoimmunity, and Pain”. She also receives the King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center Research Award for Early Career Clinician Scientists. Congrats, Mandlin!
