Chemical Biology

STANLEY SHAW LABORATORY

STANLEY SHAW, MD, PhD

http://csb.mgh.harvard.edu/shaw

About Stanley Shaw

Stanley Shaw is a cardiologist who uses systematic chemical biology and genomics approaches to discover underlying mechanisms and novel therapies for complex diseases. His research focuses on patient-derived cells, in order to understand the phenotypes of disease mutations in their native genetic context, and to modulate biologic pathways for therapeutic effect. He became one of the core faculty members in the MGH Center for Systems Biology (CSB) in 2007, with a joint appointment in the MGH Cardiovascular Research Center; he is Co-Director of the Chemical Biology Platform at CSB. He is also an affiliate of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT.

He received his A.B. from Harvard College, his Ph.D.from Harvard University (in Biophysics, studying DNA topology under James Wang), and his M.D. from Harvard Medical School. He completed his internship, residency, and clinical fellowship training in cardiology at MGH, and served as Chief Resident in the MGH Department of Medicine. He worked with Mark Fishman and Stuart Schreiber as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellow.

Research

The overall goal of our research is to define biologic pathways important for the development and treatment of metabolic and cardiovascular disease in humans. Since these diseases involve a complex interplay between genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors, we study them using a systems biology approach. Namely, we analyze human cells in their baseline state or following systematic perturbation, using genome-wide gene expression measurements, high-throughput small molecule screens, bioinformatic analysis, and molecular imaging.

By design, many of our high-throughput small molecule screens use small molecules of known effect, including FDA-approved drugs, or novel compounds that modulate proteins targeted by existing drugs. Because of this, our work can lead to novel therapeutic hypotheses that may be rapidly translated to human applications.

Current interests include:

Assigning function to disease mutations or susceptibility alleles for metabolic and cardiovascular disease.
Dissecting the role of epigenetic modifications during cardiac differentiation.
Developing novel ways to phenotype human subjects or human cells, such as cell-based or imaging phenotypes.

Our group works closely with several programs and investigators at the Broad Institute, as well as at the MGH Center for Human Genetic Research, the Center for Regenerative Medicine, and the Cardiovascular Research Center.

Lab Members

David Blodgett, PhD Research Fellow
Maggie Ma, M.S. Research Technician
Patricia Scripko, B.S. Sarnoff Cardiovascular Research Foundation Fellow
Carlos Tassa, PhD Research Fellow