Dr. Susan Hockfield

Susan Hockfield's laboratory has studied molecular substrates of mammalian development. We identified a family of glycovariants of the extracellular matrix (ECM) proteoglycan, aggrecan, whose expression is regulated by neuronal activity early in an animal's life. Expression of the aggrecan glycoforms is regulated in parallel with critical period events and may play a role in stabilizing mature synaptic relationships. A related ECM protein, BEHAB/brevican, is expressed when glial cells travel during development and after brain injury. BEHAB/brevican is also expressed at very high levels in brain tumors, and can mediate the motility of tumor cells. A key feature of our work has been to bring biochemical and molecular biological techniques to the classical anatomical analysis of mammalian CNS development.

The former MIT President is now a new faculty member in the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research (KIICR). Hockfield, is a noted neurobiologist whose research interests include glioma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. The first life scientist to head MIT, she supported early on the emerging convergence of the Institute's life sciences, engineering, and physical sciences programs. The establishment of the Koch Institute reflects these efforts, and Hockfield's instrumental vision for the future of cancer research at MIT.