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Basic Science
The Basic Science Division uses molecular approaches to understand human disease. The division is also committed to training internal medicine and surgical residents in basic science and assisting in the design and completion of basic science projects. The division serves as a resource for clinicians with an interest in basic science projects and translational projects with the need for bench science.
A major theme in the division is the use of cell culture and mouse models to investigate insulin resistance, fatty liver disease, and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, precursors to type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease and cancer. These are significant health issues in the central New York region served by Bassett Healthcare.
A goal of our research is to delineate the molecular mechanisms of insulin resistance, fatty liver disease, and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, and ultimately, identify good therapeutic targets to treat these ailments. A second major theme in the division is the use of cell culture and xengraft tumor models of human cancer to understand the mechanism by which circadian (our 24-hour biological clock) disruption accelerates cancer growth.
"We are trying to understand the mechanism by which these diseases occur so we can treat them. We want to identify therapeutic targets, a protein or process in the cell that a pharmaceutical company can go after. We ask, 'What is an important step that can reverse the disease?'"
- Michael Greene, Ph.D., director of the Basic Science Division.
