Alan M. Diamond, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Illinois College of Medicine Chicago. He joined UIC in 1998. He has a particular focus on studying gene variations that place African Americans at great risk of dying from prostate and breast cancer. His interest in selenium-containing proteins stems from his graduate studies, during which he characterized the very unusual tRNA that inserts selenocysteine during protein synthesis in response to specific UGA codons in the mRNAs of encoding selenoproteins. The selenoproteins he has chosen to focus on have either been implicated in cancer due to their respective genes containing polymorphisms associated with cancer risk or reduced levels being associated with cancer development. His research is focused on the role selenoproteins play in prostate cancer etiology. In addition, the availability of human clinical samples and the additional expertise in imaging tissues in the Pathology Department directly resulted in making novel observations regarding the levels and cellular location of selenoproteins in the prostate and their consequences on mitochondrial function.
Alan Diamond, PhD
Professor
Pathology
Medicine
Research Program
Translational Oncology Program (TO)
Phone: 312-413-8747
Email: [email protected]
