Utthara Nayar, PhDJohns Hopkins UniversityBaltimore, MD Estrogen receptor mutations as a novel biomarker for response to endocrine therapy in ovarian cancer Dr. Nayar is pursuing a fast track to the clinical testing of a new treatment for low-grade serous ovarian cancers (LGSOCs). Some LGSOCs develop mutations in the estrogen receptor (ER) molecule and stop responding […]
Read MoreUsing genetic predictors of CA125 to improve personalized ovarian cancer screening Most ovarian cancer cases are currently diagnosed at late stage when less than half of the women will live five years after their diagnosis. In contrast, ovarian cancer cases diagnosed at an early stage have more than 90% living after five years from diagnosis. […]
Read MoreTao Wu, PhDBaylor College of Medicine2020 Scientific Scholar Award Targeting Epigenetic Landscape Reprogramming to Combat Drug-resistance in Ovarian Cancer Despite major improvements in therapeutic approaches to ovarian cancer, the ability of tumors to develop resistance to anti-cancer drugs remains the major challenge in achieving longer-lasting remission. One of the ways drug resistance is thought to […]
Read MoreT. Rinda Soong, MD, PhDUniversity of Pittsburgh2020 Scientific Scholar Award Early Serous Tubal Proliferations as Alternate Precursors of High-Grade Serous Carcinoma Identifying the origins of high grade serous ovarian cancer can help us understand how to prevent this disease or detect it at earlier, more treatable stages. Precancerous changes in fallopian tube tissue known as […]
Read MoreMatjaz Barboric, PhDUniversity of Helsinki 2020 James A. Harting Pilot Study Award Targeting transcriptional kinases for novel ovarian cancer therapies Ovarian cancer is the deadliest gynecological cancer. Identifying druggable Achilles’ heels of ovarian cancer can lead to new treatments. In order to do this, Dr. Barboric will target critical enzymes called cyclin-dependent kinases (tCDKs) which […]
Read MoreMatthew Wakefield, PhDThe Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research2020 Rosser Family Pilot Study Award Identifying all mutations in the PARP1 catalytic domain that impact PARP inhibitor action PARP inhibitors are a class of drugs that are becoming a major part of treatment for high grade ovarian cancer. These drugs kill cancer cells by […]
Read MoreJohn Paul Shen, MDUniversity of California, San Diego Improving Outcomes in Ovarian Cancer: A Network Genomics Approach Technological advances now allow for sequencing of tumors from large patient cohorts. However, this knowledge of the cancer genome has not yet been translated into the clinical practice of oncology. Dr. Shen works in the Ideker lab which […]
Read MoreJessica Bertout, PhD, VMDFred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center2013 Gilman Family Scholar High-Resolution Detection of Somatic Ovarian Cancer Mutations in Bodily Fluids Owing to a lack of effective screening tests, 80% of ovarian cancer patients are diagnosed in late stages of the disease at which point there are low survival rates. Methods that enumerate tumor cells […]
Read MoreBenjamin Izar, MD, PhDDana-Farber Cancer Institute Single-cell transcriptome analysis of treatment-resistant ovarian cancer and new strategies for drug discovery Dr. Izar will be studying in fine detail the molecular changes that take place from the time that ovarian cancer cells respond to platinum chemotherapy to when they become resistant. He will employ an innovative genetic […]
Read MoreElizabeth Harmon Stover, MD, PhDDana-Farber Cancer Institute Genomic analysis of plasma cell-free tumor DNA to evaluate clinical mechanisms of drug resistance in ovarian cancer Many ovarian cancers are able to resist drug treatment and therefore recur after months or years, posing a major challenge for clinicians and researchers. Currently research of resistant tumors is limited […]
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