Andre Levchenko, Ph.D.

Research summary

The Levchenko lab studies intraceullar signal transduction and cell-cell communication by combining molecular biology, microfabrication and imaging techniques and combining them with the state of the art modeling studies to investigate how living cells can sense their environment and how this sensing ability can help them establish communication leading to complex ensemble responses. They apply a systems biology, theory-based approach to modeling and studying MAPK, NF-kappaB, PKA and PI3K signal transduction pathways intheir roles in vital cellular functions, such as cell cycle, locomotion and apoptosis, and various pathologies, including cancer and AIDS.

Other research interests include studying the ways simple organisms can display complex behavior in formation of biofilms and other superstructures implicated in over 65 percent of bacterial infections; exploring novel mechanisms of cell-cell communication involving physical transfer of cell membrane components between eukaryotic cells; and integrating experimentally validated models and relating them to gene network regulation and other cell responses.