[2] As one of the first postdocs in the lab of Harvey Lodish at MIT, Housman showed that all mammalian proteins begin with a methionine residue transferred from a specific met-initiator tRNA.
Housman has co-founded five biotech companies: Integrated Genetics (now part of Genzyme), Somatix Therapy Corp, Viariagenics, Kenna Technologies, and Audacity Therapeutics.
His laboratory studies the WT1 gene, whose mutation causes the Wilms’ tumor in the kidneys, and is exploring it as a therapeutic target for leukemia.
[7] This led to the discovery of the neighborhood of the gene by Gusella's lab at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1983.
[8] The Housman lab is currently investigating the modifier genes responsible for determining the age of onset for Huntington's.