Assistant Professor Jorge Torres was interviewed by NBC News affiliate in Bakersfield, where he gave a talk about ongoing research and the importance of private funding for research at the American Cancer Society Relay For Life Survivor Kickoff.
The American Cancer Society Relay For Life is an family friendly, community walk celebrating cancer survivors, their families and friends, and to help raise money in the fight against cancer. The event, since its inception in 1985, has raised nearly 5 billion dollars.
The video featuring Jorge Torres’ interview is available below.
Jorge Torres Short Biography & Research Interest
Jorge Torres received his B.S. in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1998, where he conducted research under the mentorship of Dr. Eduardo Orias. He obtained his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Princeton University in 2004 under the direction of Dr. Virginia A. Zakian. He conducted his postdoctoral work in the laboratory of Dr. Peter K. Jackson at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Genentech Inc. until 2009 when he joined the faculty in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCLA.
The Torres’ lab investigates mitotic spindle formation during cell division and its misregulation in human diseases, especially cancer. The lab’s major focus is to understand how multiple mechanisms and enzymatic activities coordinate the formation of the mitotic microtubule spindle during cell division. They are interested in identifying and characterizing novel proteins that are required for proper mitotic spindle assembly. They use human cell lines and in vitro systems along with a combination of approaches, including Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, Chemical Biology and Microscopy to determine the mechanism of action of these proteins.
