New faculty spotlight: Nicholas Woods, Ph.D.

Nicholas Woods, Ph.D., is a new faculty member at the Eppley Institute. Here’s a brief rundown of his background and the expertise he brings to UNMC.

• Name: Nicholas Woods, Ph.D.
• Position: Assistant professor, Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases
• Hometown: Fairfield, Neb.

How I fell in love with science:
I’ve always had an affinity to science, but I got my first real experience with Don Lee, Ph.D., in a plant genetics lab at UNL. There, I realized how much I truly enjoyed being the first person to observe and describe a new biological event.

Research/Professional interests:
My primary research interest is systems biology-based analysis of protein-protein interactions networks associated with cancer signaling pathways to identify novel targets for cancer therapies.

To date, I have focused on determining the interaction network of all human BRCT domains, which bind phosphorylated motifs in response to DNA damage signaling. These studies have identified over a thousand new BRCT-mediated interactions and revealed novel mechanisms controlling the DNA damage response, including that of COMMD1 and mTORC2. Additionally, these studies have identified novel phosphorylation events in BRCT domains that regulate their binding profile and stability.

My future goals are to examine the acute myeloid leukemia (AML) signaling pathways associated with Fanconi Anemia proteins in the context of the DNA damage response network using a holistic approach that combines quantitative proteomics of PTMs associated with signaling events, protein-protein interactions, and network modeling.

Degrees

• Bachelor of Science in biochemistry from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• Ph.D. in cancer biology from the University of South Florida.

Four things people may not know about me:

• For fun, I taught myself scripting, which opened up a wealth of new research avenues.
• I’ve fought cancer personally and know firsthand how much it sucks.
• My favorite hobby is archery.
• I met my wife, Neha, in the Ph.D. program at the Moffitt Cancer Center. Her research focused on the molecular function of SIRT1 as well as sensitizing pancreatic cancer cell lines to chemotherapeutics. She will soon begin working in the UNMC Department of Surgery.