Abstract
Xavier Graña obtained his bachelor’s degree in 1987 and his PhD in 1991 from the University of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. From 1991 to 1994, he carried out postdoctoral training at Cold Spring Harbor, New York, and the Fels Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Biology, Temple University School of Medicine (TUSM) in Philadelphia, as a Fulbright/MEC, Lady Tata, and CIRIT fellow. He joined the Fels Institute for Cancer Research faculty in 1994. He is currently an Associate Professor of The Fels Institute and a tenured Associate Professor of Biochemistry. He is also the Director of the Molecular Biology and Genetics Graduate Program and Director of the Cluster in Cancer Biology and Genetics of the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program at TUSM.
As a postdoctoral trainee he identified and characterized novel members of the cyclin dependent kinase (CDK) family, now designated CDK9 and CDK10. As an independent researcher, he has focused his work on the role of CDKs and phosphatases in modulating the functions of the members of the retinoblastoma family of pocket proteins in cell cycle entry and exit in mammalian cells as well as the role of CDKs in the control of gene expression. Some of his contributions include the identification and characterization of the cell cycle–dependent phosphorylation of the retinoblastoma-related protein p130, the identification of PP2A holoenzymes as components of a regulatory network with CDKs that determines the phosphorylation state of pocket proteins during the cell cycle, and studies on the role of CDK9 in the control of cellular and HIV expression. His current efforts are focused on gaining an understanding of signaling cues and mechanisms that activate pocket proteins through modulation of PP2A independent of CDK regulation and the potential implication of these pathways in cancer. His work has been funded by NIGMS, NIAID, NCI, NIMH, and private foundations. He has served as member of the Cell Signaling and Dynamics study section and ad hoc member of other study sections, emphasis panels, and international founding agencies. He is currently on the editorial boards of Cell Division and Gene.