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Dr.Ted Meigs, Assistant Professor, Ph.D., Stanford University. Dr. Meigs' research addresses the broad question of how cells in the human body communicate with each other. Cells have the ability to bind chemical messages, or "signals," on the outer surface of the cell, and transmit this information to the cell interior through a series of interesting proteins that physically interact and pass along a particular signal. Dr. Meigs is particularly interested in studying and characterizing the signaling pathways that involve a heterotrimeric GTP-binding protein termed G12, which is known to participate in cancer progression and embryo development. His primary research goals are to identify the structural regions of G12 that are essential for binding to other signal-transmitting proteins. Also, he is interested in deciphering the mechanisms by which G12 affects the function of cell-surface proteins termed cadherins, that are important for adhesion between adjacent cells of the body. Dr. Meigs obtained his B.S. from Western Carolina University in 1990, and his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1996, where he studied the cellular mechanisms that control cholesterol metabolism. More recently, he conducted post-doctoral studies of cellular signal transduction at Duke University Medical Center. He is maintaining a collaboration with Dr. Pat Casey, Director of the Center for Chemical Biology at Duke University, with Dr. Meigs serving as Co-Investigator for a grant funded by the National Institutes of Health.