Alan M. Diamond, PhD
Professor
phone: (312) 413-8747
fax: (312) 996-7568
email:adiamond@uic.edu
Research Areas
- Anti-oxidant proteins and cancer etiology
- Functions of selenium-containing proteins
- The impact of naturally occurring genetic variations on health
What I Do
I’ve selected anti-oxidant proteins implicated in cancer risk and outcome by human epidemiological data for further study, with an emphasis on those proteins that contain selenium in the form of selenocysteine. By manipulating these proteins in cultured cells and examining their levels and subcellular location in human tissues, it is hoped we can learn about the mechanisms behind their effects on healthy and cancerous cells.
Biography
Having been exposed to work on transfer RNA (tRNA) as an undergraduate at Brooklyn College. I continued in this area while obtaining my Ph.D. in Biochemistry at Stony Brook University. Although I didn’t know it at the time, my thesis was spent characterizing the mammalian tRNA that served as the platform for the synthesis of the selenium-containing protein selenocysteine, which was subsequently incorporated in growing peptides in response to a specially designated UGA “stop codons”. I learned about molecular cloning and cancer biology during my post-doctoral training at Harvard Medical School before taking my first faculty position in the Dept. of Radiation Oncology at the University Chicago. There I returned to work on selenoprotein synthesis and function, which evolved into the role those selenoproteins play in cancer etiology. This focus continued after I moved to the University of Illinois, first in the Dept. of Human Nutrition, and subsequently to my current home in the Dept. of Pathology.
Education
B.S., Biology, 1978 - Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NewYork
Ph.D., Biochemistry, 1982 - SUNY at Stony Brook, New York
Fellowship
Post-Doctoral Fellowship, 1982-1986 - Harvard Medical School and Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA.
Research Expertise
1982-1986 Research Fellow in Pathology, Harvard Medical School and Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA
1986-1992 Assistant Professor, The University of Chicago, Dept. of Radiation and Cellular Oncology, Chicago, IL
1992-2002 Medical Advisory Board, Leukemia Research Foundation, Inc., Chairman, 1995-1999, Co-Chairman, 1999-2002
1993-1998 Associate Professor, The University of Chicago, Dept. of Radiation and Cellular Oncology, Chicago, IL
1998-2001 Associate Professor, Dept. of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
2001-2006 Head, Dept. of Human Nutrition
2001-present Professor, Depts. of Kinesiology and Nutrition, Surgery, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
2007-present Professor, Dept. of Pathology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
Awards
- STAR Award, Leukemia Research Foundation 2002
- ELR Stokstad Award, American Society for Nutritional Sciences 2004
Recent Publications
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Keywords
Cancer, selenium, polymorphisms, anti-oxidants