Christopher Hammell
Professor
Cancer Center Member
Ph.D., Dartmouth Medical School, 2002
[email protected] | 516-367-5207
As organisms develop, genes turn on and off with a precise order and timing, much like the order and duration of notes in a song. My group uses model organisms to understand the molecules that control the tempo of development. We also study how changes in the timing of gene expression contribute to diseases like cancer.
Christopher Hammell鈥檚 lab is interested in understanding gene regulatory processes that give rise to robust phenotypes associated with normal development in animals (specifically, how the timing of developmental processes is controlled) as well as the alterations in these pathways that give rise to diseases such as cancer (as in the alterations in mitogenic pathways in melanoma). Hammell and colleagues approach this elemental problem by using a variety of model organisms and patient-derived cancer cell lines. To directly identify the components that function in controlling normal developmental timing, they use the small nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, applying forward and reverse genetic approaches. In contrast to the extreme robustness of cell-fate lineage in C. elegans, in which specification of developmental programs is hard-wired, mutations that alter conserved signaling pathways in melanoma create relatively plastic developmental landscapes that allow these lesions to become aggressive tumors. Notably, the gene regulatory architecture of melanoma cells allows them to acquire resistance to therapeutic agents. Hammell鈥檚 team is interested in epigenetic mechanisms that contribute to resistance, specifically dramatic changes in gene expression patterns and intracellular signaling pathways. They are performing high-throughput screens to identify cellular factors that allow these re-wiring events to occur, with the idea that these components would make ideal therapeutic targets to complement existing clinical strategies.
How our biological clock starts and keeps ticking
June 2, 2026
CSHL鈥檚 Hammell lab has discovered the master clock responsible for coordinating development in the worm C. elegans.
A journey into animal aging
September 17, 2025
Time loops, babies with beards, and biology's favorite worm. CSHL Professor Christopher Hammel explores all these phenomena and more.
CSHL celebrates SBS Class of 2025
May 7, 2025
The CSHL School of Biological Sciences conferred nine Ph.D.s and one honorary Doctor of Science degree during its 22nd commencement ceremony.
At the Lab Season 1 Research Rewind: Genetics
October 22, 2024
It鈥檚 the code for all life on Earth. This week At the Lab, we鈥檙e hacking it with the help of 黑料吃瓜资源鈥檚 geneticists.
At the Lab Episode 10: The time of our lives
June 4, 2024
鈥淵ou wouldn鈥檛 start making the fingernails on an arm until you had started to make the arm,鈥 says CSHL鈥檚 Christopher Hammell. How鈥檚 that for a visual?
A quiz for the ages
January 29, 2024
Want to know the secret to a long life? So do CSHL scientists. Take this short quiz to see what they鈥檝e found out about aging and longevity.
First look: Whole-body gene expression
November 6, 2023
For the first time, scientists at CSHL have observed gene expression as it occurs throughout an animal. See life take shape in front of your eyes.
These worms have rhythm
September 5, 2023
Observing gene expression in real time, CSHL scientists identified four molecules the C. elegans worm relies on to set the tempo of its development.
CSHL celebrates 20th graduating class
May 9, 2023
Friends, family, and faculty applauded 11 Ph.D. recipients at the CSHL School of Biological Sciences鈥 2023 commencement.
CSHL 19th graduating class celebrated
May 2, 2022
In May 2022, the CSHL School of Biological Sciences awarded 10 Doctor of Philosophy degrees and two honorary degrees.
All Publications
11 Jul 2025 | bioRxiv
Kinney, Brian; Menjivar-Hernandez, Jason; Koitz, Fred; Grinevich, Dmitry; Baselios, Madonna; Hammell, Christopher; Gordon, Kacy;
2 Jan 2025 | bioRxiv
Medley, Jeffrey; Perales, Roberto; Humada, Belén; Doerfel, Katja; Levine, Ariana; Panzade, Ganesh; Hammell, Christopher; Zinovyeva, Anna;
30 Oct 2024 | Nature Communications | 15(1):9384
Kim, Hyun-Soo; Roche, Benjamin; Bhattacharjee, Sonali; Todeschini, Leila; Chang, An-Yun; Hammell, Christopher; Verdel, André; Martienssen, Robert;
1 Dec 2023 | eLife | 12:RP84355
Medwig-Kinney, Taylor; Kinney, Brian; Martinez, Michael; Yee, Callista; Sirota, Sydney; Mullarkey, Angelina; Somineni, Neha; Hippler, Justin; Zhang, Wan; Shen, Kang; Hammell, Christopher; Pani, Ariel; Matus, David;
22 Aug 2023 | Developmental Cell | :S1534-5807(23)00402
Kinney, Brian; Sahu, Shubham; Stec, Natalia; Hills-Muckey, Kelly; Adams, Dexter; Wang, Jing; Jaremko, Matt; Joshua-Tor, Leemor; Keil, Wolfgang; Hammell, Christopher;
1 Feb 2023 | Genetics | :iyad013
Xiao, Yutong; Yee, Callista; Zhao, Chris; Martinez, Michael; Zhang, Wan; Shen, Kang; Matus, David; Hammell, Christopher;
2022 | bioRxiv
Xiao, Yutong; Yee, Callista; Martinez, Michael; Zhao, Chris; Zhang, Wan; Shen, Kang; Matus, David; Hammell, Christopher;
Nov 2021 | PLoS Genetics | 17(11):e1009599
Carlston, Colleen; Weinmann, Robin; Stec, Natalia; Abbatemarco, Simona; Schwager, Francoise; Wang, Jing; Ouyang, Huiwu; Ewald, Collin; Gotta, Monica; Hammell, Christopher;
18 Oct 2021 | Journal of Cell Science
Abbatemarco, Simona; Bondaz, Alexandra; Schwager, Francoise; Wang, Jing; Hammell, Christopher; Gotta, Monica;
12 Oct 2021 | Genetics
Hills-Muckey, Kelly; Martinez, Michael; Stec, Natalia; Hebbar, Shilpa; Saldanha, Joanne; Medwig-Kinney, Taylor; Moore, Frances; Ivanova, Maria; Morao, Ana; Ward, J; Moss, Eric; Ercan, Sevinc; Zinovyeva, Anna; Matus, David; Hammell, Christopher;