Tracy M. Handel, Ph.D.

Research

Research in the Handel lab is focused primarily on the structure and function of chemokines and chemokine receptors. These proteins control the migration of cells in the context of development, immune surveillance, and inflammation. Inappropriate utilization or regulation of chemokines/receptors is also associated with numerous diseases including inflammatory diseases, atherosclerosis, HIV, and malaria. We are particularly interested in the function of chemokines in cancer. An additional area of research involves examining the contribution of chemokines to cancer. We are especially interested in chemokine-mediated survival signaling in both breast cancer and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). A third area of research involves computational protein design. We have developed a protein design algorithm called EGAD Library which contains a modular architecture for customizing energy functions and search algorithms for the problem at hand. We have recently used EGAD in the design and analysis of protein-protein interactions using the beta-lactamase/beta-lactamase inhibitor complexes as model systems.