Biography

Cancer is a complex and heterogeneous disease that arises from alterations in multiple genes and pathways, making it challenging to identify effective treatments. My research focuses on defining novel “cancer genes”, clinically relevant predictive biomarkers of response/ resistance to therapy and discovering novel drug targets using a multi-modality approach, incorporating computational predictions, multi-omics profiling with ex-vivo drug profiling. To identify new therapeutic options for cancer patients, my group uses various high-throughput technologies, such as genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, to pinpoint genetic and biochemical pathways that are aberrant in cancer cells. These approaches enable the identification of genes and molecules that are involved in key dysregulated cellular processes in cancer, such as cell proliferation, differentiation, and survival. Potential targets are then characterized using a variety of cell-based assays, in vitro and in vivo models, and structural biology techniques. Finally, using cancer-specific patient-derived organoids or tumor fragments, we test compounds such as small molecule inhibitors, monoclonal antibodies, and gene therapies designed to target specific molecular pathways or processes essential for cancer cell survival and proliferation, thereby enabling the selective killing of cancer cells.