Structural Biology Program

The Nikola Pavletich Lab

Research

Nikola P. Pavletich, PhD

Stephen and Barbara Friedman Chair

Our research group is interested in understanding, at the structural and mechanistic levels, the maintenance of genomic integrity and the control of cell growth, both of which figure prominently in cancer. In the area of growth control, our recent work is focused on the mTOR pathway that controls multiple aspects of cell growth and homeostasis. Our work on genomic integrity ranges from the Fanconi Anemia pathway, which responds to DNA interstrand crosslinks, to the ATR and ATM checkpoint kinases that coordinate the cell’s response to replication stress and DNA double-strand breaks, respectively. Common to these genomic integrity pathways is eventual repair by homologous recombination, a process that has been a longstanding focus of our research.

Research Projects

Featured News

Structure of an intermediate during the homologous recombination reaction.

Wielding Powerful Imaging Tools, MSK Researchers Decipher Process of DNA Repair

The high-resolution views provided by cryo-electron microscopy are helping scientists learn how proteins and DNA collaborate to repair broken DNA.

In the Lab

Pictured: Three-dimensional structure of the protein mTOR

A Recently Revealed Protein Structure Creates New Opportunities for Cancer Research and Drug Design

In an eagerly awaited study, Memorial Sloan Kettering researchers report on the molecular structure of mTOR, a protein commonly mutated in cancer.

Honors

Pictured: Nikola Pavletich and Alexander Rudensky

Two Memorial Sloan Kettering Investigators Named to National Academy of Sciences

Structural Biology Program Chair Nikola P. Pavletich and immunologist Alexander Y. Rudensky have received one of the highest honors given to scientists working in the United States.

Publications Highlights

Yang H, Rudge DG, Koos JD, Vaidialingam B, Yang HJ, Pavletich NP. (2013). mTOR kinase structure, mechanism and regulation. Nature. 2013;497:217-223.

Wang R, Persky N, Yoo B, Ouerfelli O, Smogorzewska A, Elledge SJ, Pavletich NP. (2014). Mechanism of DNA interstrand cross-link processing by repair nuclease FAN1. Science. 2014;346:1127-1130.

Yang H, Jiang X, Li B, Yang HJ, Miller M, Yang A, Dhar A, Pavletich NP. (2017). Mechanisms of mTORC1 activation by RHEB and inhibition by PRAS40. Nature. 2017;552:368-373.

Wang R, Wang S, Dhar A, Peralta C, Pavletich NP. (2020). DNA clamp function of the monoubiquitinated Fanconi anaemia ID complex. Nature. 2020;580:278-282.

Yang H, Zhou C, Dhar A, Pavletich NP. (2020). Mechanism of strand exchange from RecA-DNA synaptic and D-loop structures. Nature. 2020;586:801-806.

View All Publications

People

Nikola P. Pavletich, PhD

Stephen and Barbara Friedman Chair

The Pavletich laboratory studies the structural biology of pathways that control cell growth and maintain the integrity of the genome.
PhD, Johns Hopkins University

pavletin@mskcc.org: Email Address
212-639-8544: Office Phone

Members

Buren Li

Research Technician

Nikola Pavletich

Member

Madellyn Sosa

Administrative Assistant

Renjing Wang

Research Fellow

Haijuan Yang

Senior Research Scientist

Marie Benton

Ankita Dhar

Research Assistant

Christopher Peralta

Christopher Warren

Yehuda Goldgur

Associate Laboratory Member & Head, X-Ray Crystallography Core Facility

Buren Li

Postdoctoral Fellow, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY

Open Positions

To learn more about available postdoctoral opportunities, please visit our Career Center

To learn more about compensation and benefits for postdoctoral researchers at MSK, please visit Resources for Postdocs

Get in Touch

pavletin@mskcc.org

Lab Head Email
212-639-8544

Office Phone
212-639-8547

Lab Phone
212-717-3135

Lab Fax

Disclosures

Members of the MSK Community often work with pharmaceutical, device, biotechnology, and life sciences companies, and other organizations outside of MSK, to find safe and effective cancer treatments, to improve patient care, and to educate the health care community. These activities outside of MSK further our mission, provide productive collaborations, and promote the practical application of scientific discoveries.

MSK requires doctors, faculty members, and leaders to report (“disclose”) the relationships and financial interests they have with external entities. As a commitment to transparency with our community, we make that information available to the public. Not all disclosed interests and relationships present conflicts of interest. MSK reviews all disclosed interests and relationships to assess whether a conflict of interest exists and whether formal COI management is needed.

Nikola P. Pavletich discloses the following relationships and financial interests:

No disclosures meeting criteria for time period

The information published here is a complement to other publicly reported data and is for a specific annual disclosure period. There may be differences between information on this and other public sites as a result of different reporting periods and/or the various ways relationships and financial interests are categorized by organizations that publish such data.

This page and data include information for a specific MSK annual disclosure period (January 1, 2024 through disclosure submission in spring 2025). This data reflects interests that may or may not still exist. This data is updated annually.

Learn more about MSK’s COI policies here. For questions regarding MSK’s COI-related policies and procedures, email MSK’s Compliance Office at ecoi@mskcc.org.

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