The Poché lab
Notable Achievements in Research
Baylor College of Medicine researchers have been at the forefront of many of the major advances in biomedical sciences over the last century. They:
- Opened the first center for the treatment of polio in the United States
- Developed the first successful implement to straighten the spines of patients with scoliosis
- Pioneered the field of molecular endocrinology with seminal work on steroid hormone action and the discovery of steroid receptor coactivators, master regulatory cells in the body
- Determined the sequences of chromosomes 3, 12 and part of X as part of their role as one of three centers to complete the Human Genome Project
- Led sequencing of many animal genomes, including the mouse, rat, fruit fly, rhesus monkey, honey bee, sea urchin, marmoset, orangutan, and cow
- Discovered the cytoplasmic microtubule complex in eukaryotic cells, a finding that led to use of a new class of cancer drugs including taxol
- Proved using isoniaizid long-term can prevent TB in children with latent infection
- Invented the Dacron graft
- Found that an enterotoxin is responsible for diarrhea commonly caused in children by rotavirus
- Described the first case of uniparental disomy, in which a child receives both copies of a gene from one parent
- Pioneered gene chip technology that streamlines diagnosis of genetic and chromosomal diseases
- Discovered the gene that causes Rett syndrome, a post natal genetic disorder that affects mainly girls
- Identified new mutations in a cartilage protein that results in a lethal form of the brittle bone disease called osteogenesis imperfect
- Sequenced and annotated the first personalized genome sequence, that of Dr. James Watson, Nobel laureate who described DNA’s double helix
- Developed a translational technique to train T-cells to kill cancers associated with Epstein-Barr virus
- Pioneered the study of eating disorders
- Conducted first successful surgery on the human genome
- Elucidated the protein interaction network or interactome for autism spectrum disorder
- Developed a new therapy to prevent viral infections after stem cell transplant