Thomas V O'Halloran

###Education
B.S., M.A., 1980, University of Missouri
Ph.D., 1985, Columbia University
NIH Postdoctoral Fellow, 1986, MIT

###Research
My research program focuses on how the discovery of soluble metal receptor proteins, the pathways they participate in, and the mechanisms by which they regulate cellular events and the physiology of the organism. My group adopts a highly interdisciplinary approach to elucidation of chemical mechanisms, protein structures, biochemistry and physiology of metal receptors, and this work has led to the discovery of two novel families of factors. In the course of these studies, we defined a new family of metal receptors that regulate gene expression in response to changes in metal ion concentration: i.e., the metalloregulatory proteins. In collaboration with colleagues at Johns Hopkins, we discovered another class of proteins called metallochaperone proteins, which govern metal flow through the cell. These studies reveal how cells control transition element quotas in normal and disease states.

Further details on our research and introductions to our lab and the people in it can be found at the O’Halloran Lab Website.