Dr. Munir Tanas has been selected as an inaugural Stead Family Scholar by the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. The goal of the Stead Family Scholar program is to recognize and advance the development of outstanding early-career faculty who are becoming internationally recognized leaders in their respective fields of research. Each Stead Family Scholar is appointed to a 3-year term, receiving $125,000 per year to pursue new unexplored ideas that promise consequential discoveries. In addition to financial support, Stead Family Scholars will also be provided leadership and communication training to advance their professional development.

Dr. Tanas’ research laboratory focuses on understanding the role of the Hippo pathway in sarcomas. TAZ and YAP are transcriptional co-activators and end effectors of the Hippo signal transduction pathway. Although centrally involved in normal development, these two proto-oncoproteins are dysregulated in various cancers including sarcomas. Dr. Tanas’ laboratory studies two mechanisms by which dysregulation of TAZ and YAP occurs. One mechanism involves fusing TAZ and YAP with other proteins, usually transcriptional regulators. The other mechanism requires inappropriate activation of signal transduction pathways upstream of TAZ and YAP. Both mechanisms are being investigated by grants secured from the NIH and VA. Funds from the Stead Family Scholar Program will be instrumental in supporting several new lines of research that will further probe the function of TAZ and YAP fusion proteins, identify novel upstream regulators of TAZ and YAP in sarcomas, and elucidate the role of TAZ and YAP in driving sarcoma metastasis.

More information on the inaugural Stead Family Scholar awardees can be found at:

https://medicine.uiowa.edu/content/inaugural-cohort-stead-family-scholars-named