Philip McQuary is exploring the role of the translation initiation factor eIF4E2 in protein synthesis under stressful environmental conditions. In response to stressful environmental conditions, eukaryotic cells shut down their global protein production as part of an integrated stress response. Philip is working to discover the upstream regulators that activate eIF4E2 and its downstream translational targets needed for survival under stress conditions. He uses a combination of biochemical and global approaches using fission yeast S. pombe and C. elegans as two different model organisms through the: (1) characterization of eIF4E protein interactions during oxidative stress, (2) validation of mRNAs encoding stress response proteins as candidate translational targets of eIF4E2, and (3) global assessment of eIF4E2’s role in stress-regulated translation by polysome profiling.