Carla Finkielstein

About

Carla Finkielstein, Ph.D., is a professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC and holds multiple roles including Director of the Molecular Diagnostics Lab and Interim Director of the Cancer Research Group. Her research focuses on understanding the molecular clocks that regulate cell growth, division, and death, particularly in relation to cancer development and progression. Her lab studies how the body's internal circadian rhythms influence cellular processes and how disruptions in these clocks can lead to mutations and tumor formation. Finkielstein's work emphasizes the relationship between circadian proteins, tumor suppressors, and oncogenes, highlighting the importance of chronotherapeutics—timing treatments to the body's biological clock for improved efficacy. Her research offers foundational insights into how molecular circadian mechanisms impact cancer and explores interdisciplinary approaches to cancer therapy. She has received numerous awards and honors for her contributions to molecular biology and cancer research.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Biology
• Medicine
• Internal medicine
• Environmental health
• Immunology
• Virology
• Nursing
• Neuroscience
• Cancer research

Selected publications

• Circadian disruption promotes tumor-immune microenvironment remodeling favoring tumor cell proliferation

  Science Advances · 2020 · 202 citations

  , all of which contribute to a proliferative phenotype.

  DOI

• The Pro-Inflammatory Chemokines CXCL9, CXCL10 and CXCL11 Are Upregulated Following SARS-CoV-2 Infection in an AKT-Dependent Manner

  Viruses · 2021 · 144 citations

  Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a highly transmissible RNA virus that is the causative agent of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Patients with severe COVID-19 may develop acute lung injury (ALI) or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and require mechanical ventilation. Key features of SARS-CoV-2 induced pulmonary complications include an overexpression of pro-inflammatory chemokines and cytokines that contribute to a 'cytokine storm.' In th…

  DOI

• Widespread exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in wildlife communities

  Nature Communications · 2024-07-29 · 42 citations

  articleOpen access

  Pervasive SARS-CoV-2 infections in humans have led to multiple transmission events to animals. While SARS-CoV-2 has a potential broad wildlife host range, most documented infections have been in captive animals and a single wildlife species, the white-tailed deer. The full extent of SARS-CoV-2 exposure among wildlife communities and the factors that influence wildlife transmission risk remain unknown. We sampled 23 species of wildlife for SARS-CoV-2 and examined the effects of urbanization and h…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Circadian clock gene polymorphisms implicated in human pathologies

  Trends in Genetics · 2024-06-12 · 27 citations

  reviewOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Circadian rhythms, ~24 h cycles of physiological and behavioral processes, can be synchronized by external signals (e.g., light) and persist even in their absence. Consequently, dysregulation of circadian rhythms adversely affects the well-being of the organism. This timekeeping system is generated and sustained by a genetically encoded endogenous mechanism composed of interlocking transcriptional/translational feedback loops that generate rhythmic expression of core clock genes. Genome-wide ass…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Development and implementation of a scalable and versatile test for COVID-19 diagnostics in rural communities

  Nature Communications · 2021 · 20 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Rapid and widespread testing of severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is essential for an effective public health response aimed at containing and mitigating the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Successful health policy implementation relies on early identification of infected individuals and extensive contact tracing. However, rural communities, where resources for testing are sparse or simply absent, face distinctive challenges to achieving this success. Accordingly,…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• CAREER: Circadian Control of Cell Division and Homeostasis

  NSF · $1.1M · 2009–2014

• A combined mathematical and bioengineering approach to elucidate the contribution of circadian factors in the cellular response to genotoxic stress

  NSF · $750k · 2015–2020

Frequent coauthors

• Daniel G. S. Capelluto

  44 shared

• Tetsuya Gotoh

  Virginia Tech

  28 shared

• Alessandro Ceci

  Biomedical Research Institute

  27 shared

• Katherine L. Brown

  Weill Cornell Medicine

  20 shared

• Michael Friedländer

  17 shared

• James Weger‐Lucarelli

  Virginia Tech

  16 shared

• Anne M. Brown

  Center for Discovery

  16 shared

• Raúl González

  14 shared

Labs

• Advancement TeamPI

Education

• Ph.D.

  Universidad de Buenos Aires, School of Natural Sciences

  1998

• Bachelor of Science, Cellular and Molecular Biology

  Universidad de Buenos Aires - School of Natural Sciences

  1992

Awards & honors

• Ut Prosim Scholar Award, Virginia Tech (2021)
• Luther and Alice Hamlett Junior Faculty Fellow (2020)
• J. Shelton Horsley Research Award, Virginia Academy of Scien…
• Mitzi L. Frank Memorial Endowed Fund (2018)
• Mary Louise Olds Andrews Cancer Award, Virginia Academy of S…

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