Faculty
Orlando D. Schärer, Professor
Joint appointment with Chemistry and Pharmacological Sciences
MSc. ETH Zürich, Switzerland, 1991
Ph.D. Harvard University, Cambridge, 1996
Postdoctoral, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands 1996-1999
Email: orlando@pharm.stonybrook.edu
Awards/Honors
- NYSTAR Faculty development award, 2005
- EMBO Young Investigator Award, 2001
- START fellow of the Swiss National Science Foundation, 1999
Research Areas
Our research program is concerned with the mechanisms of DNA repair in higher eukaryotes and the relationship of these processes to carcinogenesis and anti-tumor therapy, focusing on two main questions: 1) What are the molecular mechanisms by which DNA repair pathways prevent carcinogenesis and 2) How might we selectively inhibit DNA repair pathways in tumor cells to counteract resistance to treatment with agents such as cisplatin or nitrogen mustards. Our work combines organic chemistry, biochemistry and structural, molecular and cellular biology to address these questions in the context of nucleotide excision repair and interstrand crosslink repair.