John Kenneth Cowell, Ph.D., D.Sc., FRCPath

Description

Leader of Molecular Oncology and Biomarkers Program

Professor of Pathology

Augusta University

Georgia Cancer Center

John Kenneth Cowell, Ph.D. is the Associate Center Director for Basic Science and Leader of the Molecular Oncology Program at the Georgia Cancer Center.  Dr. Cowell earned his Ph.D. (1979) and a D.Sc. (1993) from The University of Sheffield, United Kingdom.  Dr. Cowell is a Professor in the Department of Pathology in the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University.

Dr. Cowell studies the molecular genetics of cancer using a variety of genomics and cell and molecular biology approaches.  His research focus is on breast cancers, leukemias, and cancers in children.

Dr. Cowell has been characterizing the molecular changes in human cancers such a Wilms tumor, glioblastoma, medulloblastoma, and leukemias using gene expression arrays, comparative genome hybridization, and Next Generation Sequencing.  He is currently investigating the role of the WASF3 gene in the promotion of cancer metastasis using in vivo models in mice and zebrafish.

The Cowell laboratory also analyzes the molecular etiology of Stem Cell Leukemia/Lymphoma (SCLL) syndrome, which is characterized by chromosome 8p11 translocations activating the FGFR1 kinase.