• Sara Kozma

Sara Kozma's Lab
Sara Kozma came to the University of Cincinnati in 2003 from the Friedrich Miescher Institute in Basel, Switzerland. She is an associate professor in the Department of Molecular Oncogenesis. Dr. Kozma’s laboratory is focused on the S6K/mTOR signal transduction pathway and its role in the control of cell growth. The long-term goals of the Kozma laboratory are (i) to identify the upstream signaling components that integrate nutrient and energy homeostasis with growth factor signaling to control S6K/mTOR function, (ii) to establish the downstream mechanisms by which S6K/mTOR signaling regulates ribosome biogenesis, (iii) to identify the molecular components that link ribosome biogenesis to cell cycle progression, and (IV) to elucidate the role of this pathway in diabetes and cancer. Dr. Kozma’s group is currently studying the role of mTOR signaling in hepatocellular carcinogenesis. Towards this end, they have generated a liver-specific conditional mTOR knockout mouse line. With regard to the role of the S6K/mTOR pathway in diabetes, the Kozma laboratory has recently demonstrated that S6K-1 is involved in regulating pancreatic beta cell development.

Selected Publications:
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