Developmental Biology Program

The Maria Jasin Lab

Maria Jasin, PhD

William E. Snee Chair

Human chromosomes are constantly assaulted by challenges to their integrity as a result of either environmental agents that damage DNA or from normal DNA metabolism. The failure to repair damaged DNA faithfully is ultimately responsible for many human diseases, especially cancer. This laboratory focuses on the repair of 1 particular lesion in DNA, the double-strand break (DSB). DSBs arise from agents, such as ionizing radiation, and can also occur spontaneously during DNA replication. Our emphasis is on repair of DSBs by homologous recombination, with a particular interest in the role of homologous recombination in maintaining genetic stability. Understanding the repair of DSBs is not only important for basic science and health concerns, but also impacts on molecular genetic manipulations of mammalian genomes.

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Research Projects

Featured News

In the Lab

Breaking Up Is Hard to Do (Especially for Sex Chromosomes)

One’s big, one’s small. Somehow, they make it work.

In the Lab

Pictured: Charles L. Sawyers, William Polkinghorn & Simon Powell

Molecular Studies Explain Effectiveness of Longtime Treatment for Prostate Cancer

Laboratory studies have revealed an explanation for why androgen-deprivation therapy makes radiation therapy more effective in the treatment of high-risk prostate cancer.

Studies Provide New Insight into Fundamental Biological Process

Developmental biologist Maria Jasin studies homologous recombination, which is important in DNA repair and can lead to cancer when it malfunctions.

Publications

Prakash R, Sandoval T, Morati F, Zagelbaum J, Lim P, White T, Taylor B, Wang R, Desclos E, Sullivan M, Rein H, Bernstein K, Krawczyk P, Gautier J, Modesti M, Vanoli F, and Jasin M. (2021) Distinct pathways of homologous recombination controlled by the SWS1-SWSAP1-SPIDR complex. Nat Commun. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-24205-6.

Abreu CM, Prakash R, Romanienko PJ, Roig I, Keeney S, Jasin M. (2018) Shu complex SWS1-SWSAP1 promotes early steps in mouse meiotic recombination. Nat Commun. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-06384-x.

Egli D, Zuccaro MV, Kosicki M, Church GM, Bradley A, Jasin M. Inter-homologue repair in fertilized human eggs? (2018) Nature. doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0379-5.

Garcin EB, Gon S, Sullivan MR, Brunette GJ, Cian A, Concordet JP, Giovannangeli C, Dirks WG, Eberth S, Bernstein KA, Prakash R, Jasin M, Modesti M. (2019) Differential Requirements for the RAD51 Paralogs in Genome Repair and Maintenance in Human Cells.PLoS Genet. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1008355.

Feng, W., Jasin, M., (2017) BRCA2 suppresses replication stress induced mitotic and G1 abnormalities through homologous recombination. Nat Commun 8:525. doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-00634-0.

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People

Maria Jasin, PhD

William E. Snee Chair

The Jasin laboratory focuses on double-strand break repair and genomic integrity in mammalian cells and the relationship to tumor suppression.
PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

[email protected]: Email Address
212-639-7438: Office Phone

Members

Raymond Wang

Research Assistant

Natalia Bonilla

Sr. Administrative Assistant

Matteo Ferrari
Senior Research Scientist

Pei Xin Lim, PhD — Pei Xin Lim
Senior Research Scientist

Darpan Medhi, PhD — Darpan Medhi
Senior Research Scientist

Travis White, PhD — Travis White
Senior Research Scientist

Lab Alumni

Tehone Jackson

Research Technician

Elizabeth Kass, PhD — Elizabeth Kass
Senior Research Scientist

Katharina Schlacher
Senior Research Scientist

Patricia Sung, PhD — Patricia Sung
Senior Research Technician

Fabio Vanoli, PhD — Fabio Vanoli
Research Associate

Carla M. De Castro Abreu, PhD — Carla M. De Castro Abreu
Research Fellow

Postdoctoral Fellow

Postdoctoral Fellow

Graduate Student

Graduate Research Assistant

Przemek Matt Krawczyk
Visiting Investigator

Agnieszka Lukaszewicz, PhD — Agnieszka Lukaszewicz
Senior Research Scientist

Shaun Peterson, PhD — Shaun Peterson
Research Scholar

Andrew Pierce, PhD — Andrew Pierce
Postdoctoral Fellow

Rohit Prakash, PhD — Rohit Prakash
Senior Research Scientist

Christine Richardson
Postdoctoral Fellow

Peter Romanienko

Graduate Student

Lianne Vriend
Graduate Research Assistant

Ulrica Westermark
Graduate Research Assistant

Lab Affiliations

Achievements

National Academy of Sciences (2015)
National Academy of Medicine (2016)
American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2017)
Basser Global Prize for BRCA Research (2018)
Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine (2019)

Fellow of the AACR Academy (2020)
NCI Outstanding Investigator (2020)

Lab News & Events

Upcoming event

Genome Stability in Development and Reprogramming

Thursday, December 7, 2023 - 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
1275 York Avenue
Room M-107
New York, NY 10065

Get in Touch

[email protected]

Lab Head Email
212-639-7438

Office Phone
212-639-8384

Lab Phone

Disclosures

Doctors and faculty members often work with pharmaceutical, device, biotechnology, and life sciences companies, and other organizations outside of MSK, to find safe and effective cancer treatments, to improve patient care, and to educate the health care community.

MSK requires doctors and faculty members to report (“disclose”) the relationships and financial interests they have with external entities. As a commitment to transparency with our community, we make that information available to the public.

Maria Jasin discloses the following relationships and financial interests:

Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Professional Services and Activities

The information published here is for a specific annual disclosure period. There may be differences between information on this and other public sites as a result of different reporting periods and/or the various ways relationships and financial interests are categorized by organizations that publish such data.

This page and data include information for a specific MSK annual disclosure period (January 1, 2022 through disclosure submission in spring 2023). This data reflects interests that may or may not still exist. This data is updated annually.

Learn more about MSK’s COI policies here. For questions regarding MSK’s COI-related policies and procedures, email MSK’s Compliance Office at [email protected].

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