Harvard Catalyst Profiles

Dr. Murphy’s program in funded basic investigation has been ongoing continuously since 1984 in the form of R01 grants and via participation in Program Project initiatives. The current focus of Dr. Murphy's research is elucidation of the cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for cutaneous cytotoxic reactions, including graft-versus-host disease subsequent to allogeneic stem cell transplantation for childhood and adult leukemia/lymphoma. In addition, a major collaboration involving Brigham Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and the MIT Biomaterials Department focuses on tissue stem cell biology and cutaneous regenerative medicine. One goal of this work is to define pathways responsible for scarless regeneration that typifies fetal, but not post-natal, human skin. Dr. Murphy also serves as the Director of the Tissue and Cell Analysis Core for the Harvard Skin Disease Research Center (SDRC) as well as for the Biospecimen Access and Analysis Core for the Harvard Specialized Program for Research Excellence (SPORE) in skin cancer. For research contributions concerning Langerhans cell histiocytosis, he received the Benjamin Castleman Award of the International Academy of Pathology. In 1991, he was elected into the American Society for Clinical Investigation for which he also served as an Institutional Representative. His work in the area of neuropeptide regulation of Langerhans cell function was recognized as one of the 50 most significant scientific breakthroughs worldwide for the year 1993 by the magazine, Discover. His most recent collaborative interaction with the laboratory of Dr. Markus Frank of Boston’s Children’s Hospital has recently fostered the first biomarker identification and therapeutically relevant targeting of melanoma stem cells (January 2008 cover article, Nature). He has served as a regular term member of the General Medicine A Study Section for the NIH.