Molly Gale Hammell
Associate Professor
Cancer Center Member
Ph.D., Dartmouth College, 2003
mhammell@cshl.edu | 516-367-5009
To ensure that cells function normally, tens of thousands of genes must be turned on or off together. To do this, regulatory molecules—transcription factors and non-coding RNAs—simultaneously control hundreds of genes. My group studies how the resulting gene networks function and how they can be compromised in aging associated diseases, such as neurodegeneration and cancer.
Human development requires the regulated activity of thousands of genes in hundreds of distinct cell types throughout life. One requirement for this process is that each cell must contain an intact, functional genome free from mutations. One type of mutation can arise from the activation of transposable elements (TEs). These viral-like parasites lay dormant within our genomes, but have the capacity to hop into new genomic locations, causing mutations as they break the surrounding DNA sequence. Mounting evidence has implicated transposon activity in a host of human diseases, with particular evidence for TE activation in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and fronto-temporal dementia (FTD), and cancer.
Women’s Partnership luncheon raises $150,000 for research
September 29, 2020
The nineteenth annual Women’s Partnership for Science luncheon was held with social distancing to support CSHL women researchers.
The non-human living inside of you
January 9, 2020
A large part of human DNA doesn’t aid the normal workings of the body. This “junk DNA” contains ancient viruses that may spur diseases like ALS.
Seeking better treatment for ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease
October 29, 2019
Researchers found that ‘jumping genes’ were de-silenced in post-mortem tissue samples of ALS patients.
Event: Public Lecture: Seeing With Sequencing
August 8, 2019
Come hear from three quantitative biologists as they discuss how they see with sequencing to solve mysteries ranging from the genetics of evolution.
Seeing with sequencing—A public lecture with three CSHL experts
April 19, 2019
Quantitative biologists discuss how physics, modern computing power, and a new perspective on biology can make sense of our complex genomes.
Molly Hammell wins CZI award for ALS study
December 5, 2018
Associate Professor Molly Hammell wins award for proposed study to find transposable elements that are implicated in ALS.
Base Pairs Episode 9.5: Redefining biologists, redefining genes
May 16, 2017
We talk with Molly Hammell about peering into deep space using a high-tech telescope, we also talk to Tom Gingeras about redefining the gene.
Redefining biologists, redefining genes
May 16, 2017
Drs. Molly Hammell and Thomas Gingeras talk about redefining what a biologist is and what genes are.
Research suggests a possible role for a storm of ‘jumping genes’ in ALS
March 27, 2017
New research demonstrates that some transposons are no longer effectively inhibited, resulting in a storm of jumping genes, leading to DNA damage.
Dark matter of the genome, part 1
March 15, 2017
This episode of Base Pairs digs into "dark matter" a type of genetic information that could help scientists better understand diseases like
All Publications
Cell environment shapes TDP-43 function with implications in neuronal and muscle disease
5 Apr 2022 | Communications Biology | 5(1):314
Šušnjar, Urša, Škrabar, Neva, Brown, Anna-Leigh, Abbassi, Yasmine, Phatnani, Hemali, NYGC ALS Consortium, Cortese, Andrea, Cereda, Cristina, Bugiardini, Enrico, Cardani, Rosanna, Meola, Giovanni, Ripolone, Michela, Moggio, Maurizio, Romano, Maurizio, Secrier, Maria, Fratta, Pietro, Buratti, Emanuele
TDP-43 loss and ALS-risk SNPs drive mis-splicing and depletion of UNC13A
23 Feb 2022 | Nature | 603(7899):131-137
Brown, Anna-Leigh, Wilkins, Oscar, Keuss, Matthew, Hill, Sarah, Zanovello, Matteo, Lee, Weaverly, Bampton, Alexander, Lee, Flora, Masino, Laura, Qi, Yue, Bryce-Smith, Sam, Gatt, Ariana, Hallegger, Martina, Fagegaltier, Delphine, Phatnani, Hemali, NYGC ALS Consortium, Newcombe, Jia, Gustavsson, Emil, Seddighi, Sahba, Reyes, Joel, Coon, Steven, Ramos, Daniel, Schiavo, Giampietro, Fisher, Elizabeth, Raj, Towfique, Secrier, Maria, Lashley, Tammaryn, Ule, Jernej, Buratti, Emanuele, Humphrey, Jack, Ward, Michael, Fratta, Pietro
NOS1AP is a novel molecular target and critical factor in TDP-43 pathology
1 Jan 2022 | Brain Communications | 4(5)
Cappelli, S, Spalloni, A, Feiguin, F, Visani, G, Šušnjar, U, Brown, A, De Bardi, M, Borsellino, G, Secrier, M, Phatnani, H, Romano, M, Fratta, P, Longone, P, Buratti, E, Phatnani, H, Kwan, J, Sareen, D, Broach, J, Simmons, Z, Arcila-Londono, X, Lee, E, Van Deerlin, V, Shneider, N, Fraenkel, E, Ostrow, L, Baas, F, Zaitlen, N, Berry, J, Malaspina, A, Fratta, P, Cox, G, Thompson, L, Finkbeiner, S, Dardiotis, E, Miller, T, Chandran, S, Pal, S, Hornstein, E, MacGowan, D, Heiman-Patterson, T, Hammell, M, Patsopoulos, N, Butovsky, O, Dubnau, J, Nath, A, Bowser, R, Harms, M, Aronica, E, Poss, M, Phillips-Cremins, J, Crary, J, Atassi, N, Lange, D, Adams, D, Stefanis, L, Gotkine, M, Baloh, R, Babu, S, Raj, T, Paganoni, S, Shalem, O, Smith, C, Zhang, B, Harris, B, Broce, I, Drory, V, Ravits, J, McMillan, C, Menon, V
An integrated multi-omic analysis of iPSC-derived motor neurons from C9ORF72 ALS patients
19 Nov 2021 | iScience | 24(11):103221
Phatnani, H, Kwan, J, Sareen, D, Broach, J, Simmons, Z, Arcila-Londono, X, Lee, E, Van Deerlin, V, Shneider, N, Fraenkel, E, Ostrow, L, Baas, F, Zaitlen, N, Berry, J, Malaspina, A, Fratta, P, Cox, G, Thompson, L, Finkbeiner, S, Dardiotis, E, Miller, T, Chandran, S, Pal, S, Hornstein, E, MacGowan, D, Heiman-Patterson, T, Hammell, M, Patsopoulos, N, Butovsky, O, Dubnau, J, Nath, A, Bowser, R, Harms, M, Poss, M, Phillips-Cremins, J, Crary, J, Atassi, N, Lange, D, Adams, D, Stefanis, L, Gotkine, M, Baloh, R, Babu, S, Raj, T, Paganoni, S, Shalem, O, Smith, C, Zhang, B, Harris, B, Broce, I, Drory, V, Ravits, J, McMillan, C, Menon, V, Wu, L, Altschuler, S, Li, J, Lim, R, Kaye, J, Dardov, V, Coyne, A, Wu, J, Milani, P, Cheng, A, Thompson, T, Ornelas, L, Frank, A, Adam, M, Banuelos, M, Casale, M, Cox, V, Escalante-Chong, R, Daigle, J, Gomez, E, Hayes, L, Holewenski, R, Lei, S, Lenail, A, Lima, L, Mandefro, B, Matlock, A, Panther, L, Patel-Murray, N, Pham, J, Ramamoorthy, D, Sachs, K, Shelley, B, Stocksdale, J, Trost, H, Wilhelm, M, Venkatraman, V, Wassie, B, Wyman, S, Yang, S, Van Eyk, J, Lloyd, T, Finkbeiner, S, Rothstein, J, Svendsen, C
Pathogenic Huntingtin Repeat Expansions in Patients with Frontotemporal Dementia and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
3 Feb 2021 | Neuron | 109(3):448-460.e4
Dewan, R, Chia, R, Ding, J, Hickman, R, Stein, T, Abramzon, Y, Ahmed, S, Sabir, M, Portley, M, Tucci, A, Ibáñez, K, Shankaracharya, F, Keagle, P, Rossi, G, Caroppo, P, Tagliavini, F, Waldo, M, Johansson, P, Nilsson, C, Adeleye, A, Alba, C, Bacikova, D, Hupalo, D, Martinez, E, Pollard, H, Sukumar, G, Soltis, A, Tuck, M, Zhang, X, Wilkerson, M, Smith, B, Ticozzi, N, Fallini, C, Gkazi, A, Topp, S, Kost, J, Scotter, E, Kenna, K, Miller, J, Tiloca, C, Vance, C, Danielson, E, Troakes, C, Colombrita, C, Al-Sarraj, S, Lewis, E, King, A, Calini, D, Pensato, V, Castellotti, B, de Belleroche, J, Baas, F, ten Asbroek, A, Sapp, P, McKenna-Yasek, D, McLaughlin, R, Polak, M, Asress, S, Esteban-Pérez, J, Muñoz-Blanco, J, Stevic, Z, D'Alfonso, S, Mazzini, L, Comi, G, Del Bo, R, Ceroni, M, Gagliardi, S, Querin, G, Bertolin, C, van Rheenen, W, Diekstra, F, Rademakers, R, van Blitterswijk, M, Boylan, K, Lauria, G, Duga, S, Corti, S, Cereda, C, Corrado, L, Sorarù, G, Williams, K, Nicholson, G, Blair, I, Leblond-Manry, C, Rouleau, G, Hardiman, O, Morrison, K, Veldink, J, van den Berg, L, Al-Chalabi, A, Pall, H, Shaw, P, Turner, M, Talbot, K, Taroni, F, García-Redondo, A, Wu, Z, Gellera, C, Ratti, A, Brown, R
Editorial Overview: Endogenous Retroviruses in Development and Disease
16 Dec 2020 | Viruses | 12(12)
Gale Hammell, M, Rowe, H
Ten Simple Rules for Running a Successful women-in-STEM Organization on an Academic Campus
7 May 2020 | PLoS Computational Biology | 16(5):e1007754
Rupert, D, Nowlan, A, Tam, O, Hammell, M
Mobile Genomics: Tools and Techniques for Tackling Transposons
30 Mar 2020 | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences | 375(1795)
O'Neill, K, Brocks, D, Hammell, M
Methods for Running a Successful Women-in-STEM Organization on an Academic Campus
23 Feb 2020 | bioRxiv
Rupert, Deborah, Nowlan, Alexandra, Tam, Oliver, Hammell, Molly
Postmortem Cortex Samples Identify Distinct Molecular Subtypes of ALS: Retrotransposon Activation, Oxidative Stress, and Activated Glia
29 Oct 2019 | Cell Reports | 29(5):1164-1177.e5
Tam, O, Rozhkov, N, Shaw, R, Kim, D, Hubbard, I, Fennessey, S, Propp, N, Fagegaltier, D, Harris, B, Ostrow, L, Phatnani, H, Ravits, J, Dubnau, J, Gale Hammell, M