Rate My Professor Joe Nassour

Joe Nassour, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. He earned his PhD from the Pasteur Institute of Lille - University of Lille, France. Nassour's laboratory focuses on telomere biology and its role in suppressing cancer development. The lab examines how telomere shortening during replicative aging imposes barriers to cell proliferation, preventing the attainment of cellular immortality required for tumorigenesis. Utilizing advanced techniques in cell biology, molecular biology, and single-cell multiomics, his research explores the interplay between telomere dysfunction, mitochondrial signaling, innate immune activation, and autophagy. These mechanisms collectively restrict the early stages of tumor formation, with the goal of identifying new avenues for cancer prevention and therapy. Current projects address proliferative barriers to cell immortalization, telomere-mitochondria-innate immunity crosstalk, and the genomic consequences of telomere dysfunction.

Nassour has produced seminal publications advancing knowledge of telomere functions in aging and cancer. Notable works include "Autophagic cell death restricts chromosomal instability during replicative crisis" (Nature, 2019), "Telomere-to-mitochondria signalling by ZBP1 mediates replicative crisis" (Nature, 2023), "Telomeres and Cancer: Resolving the Paradox" (Annual Review of Cancer Biology, 2021), and "Defective DNA single-strand break repair is responsible for senescence and neoplastic escape of epithelial cells" (Nature Communications, 2016). These studies elucidate how telomeres trigger protective responses against genomic instability and neoplastic transformation. His doctoral research contributed to understanding DNA repair defects in epithelial cell senescence and escape. As a Mentored Member of the University of Colorado Cancer Center in Molecular and Cellular Oncology, Nassour fosters a diverse and inclusive lab environment, providing exceptional training in genome integrity and cancer biology for students and fellows.