Congratulations Josefine!
Many congratulations to Josefine Vonofen, a former visiting summer fellow in the George Lab, on beginning her pediatric residency at Dr. von Haunersche Children's Hospital, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. We wish her every success in this exciting next chapter of her medical career!
Welcome Gianna!
The George lab is thrilled to welcome Gianna Elie as a visiting undergraduate student. Gianna joined the lab in June 2026 as part of the Harvard/MIT HEART program. She is pursuing a bachelor's degree in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. In the lab, Gianna is interested in developing therapeutic strategies to enhance MHC-I expression in tumor cells.
Welcome Christiana!
We are delighted to welcome Christiana as an undergraduate visiting student. Christiana is currently pursuing her undergraduate studies in Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology at Harvard University. In the George lab, she is interested in exploring new cell-specific targeting therapies for osteosarcoma.
Welcome to Achu Oommen
The George Lab is delighted to welcome Achu Oommen as our new Research Technician. Achu will be maintaining experimental platforms, supporting in vivo and in vitro studies, and helping to understand the role of DNA damage-induced immunogenic vulnerabilities in pediatric cancers.
Welcome to Yakir
We are thrilled to welcome Yakir Brawer to the George Lab as an undergraduate visiting student. Yakir is currently pursuing his undergraduate studies in Biology at Tufts Unversity. In the lab, he will explore why neuroblastoma develops early resistance to targeted therapies - particularly ALK inhibitors - and how to overcome this challenge to prevent or delay relapse in children with the high-risk disease.
Satyaki receives the David Livingston Early Career Investigator Award!
Many Congratulations to Dr. Satyaki Sengupta for receiving the prestigious David Livingston Early Career Investigator Award. His project will focus on uncovering DNA damage–induced immunogenic vulnerabilities in pediatric cancers, paving the way for novel therapeutic strategies.
Cracking the Code of MYCN in Neuroblastoma: The 5′UTR Reveals a New Therapeutic Weakness
Our recently published study (Volegova et al, Cell Rep, 2025) reveals that the 5′ untranslated region (UTR) of the oncogene MYCN is not simply a passive transcript segment but a critical regulatory hub in high-risk neuroblastoma. Through mechanistic dissection, we show that the RNA-helicase EIF4A1 drives MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma by engaging unique structural elements in the MYCN 5′ UTR, and that pharmacological disruption of this interaction suppresses tumor cell growth. Our findings thus identify a previously neglected vulnerability in MYCN-driven disease and offer a translational path for therapeutic intervention.
This work not only deepens our understanding of post-transcriptional regulation in neuroblastoma, but also positions MYCN’s 5′ UTR as a druggable RNA target - opening new avenues for precision therapies in a setting with urgent unmet need.
Nucleolus Under Watch: CDK12/13 Control Hidden Layers of ncRNA Regulation
Our new bioRxiv preprint (Serafim et al, bioRxiv, 2025) uncovers an unexpected role for the transcription-associated kinases CDK12 and CDK13 in maintaining nucleolar RNA homeostasis. We show that CDK12/13 inhibition triggers striking nucleolar remodeling and leads to accumulation of normally short-lived nucleolar non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), revealing a previously unrecognized RNA surveillance pathway. Mechanistically, these kinases safeguard proper processing and turnover of multiple nucleolar RNA species, linking transcriptional control to nucleolar structure and function.
This work expands the biological scope of CDK12/13 beyond canonical mRNA transcription and opens new directions for understanding how nucleolar stress and RNA dysregulation contribute to disease.
