Dr. Boxer's lab is interested in how an oncogene becomes expressed in a deregulated manner in hematologic malignancies. This is an important and seemingly simple question that has proven to be very difficult to answer. They have chosen two model systems to study this fundamental problem:

1. c-myc in Burkitt’s lymphoma
2. bcl-2 in t(14;18) lymphomas

Their goal is to determine the molecular mechanisms of oncogene deregulation and then to design novel therapeutic reagents to interfere with the deregulation. These will be tested in cell lines and animal models of the malignancies.