Iain Cheeseman[1] investigates the role of the kinetochore, a group of proteins required for cell division and chromosome segregation.
Cheeseman is also investigating the activities of the individual molecular machines that make up this structure and how these proteins are controlled and regulated.
[2] Cheeseman is noted for discovering multiple new kinetochore proteins within yeast, the Caenorhabditis elegans worm and human cells.
Certain cancer drugs target the connection between chromosomes and spindle microtubules, and some of the major proteins in the kinetochore complex have been implicated in leukemia and other diseases.
Cheeseman is currently a junior Faculty Member at Whitehead Institute and a professor at MIT.