Research Abstract
My research program focuses on the integration of “omic†approaches for the identification of new protein targets and small-molecule modulators of malignancy with an eye toward clinical translation. Cancer discovery efforts in my laboratory have focused on the alteration of the malignant state (e.g., AML and neuroblastoma differentiation) and the modulation of pharmacologically challenging oncoproteins (e.g., EWS/FLI in Ewing sarcoma, MYCN in neuroblastoma, and NOTCH1 in T-ALL.) Most recently, we are applying an integrated approach to discover new therapeutic opportunities in these malignancies with deep genomic characterization of primary tumors, kinase activity profiling for immediately druggable targets, functional genomic screening for new tumor dependencies and chemical screening for modulators of relevant oncogenic drivers. Clinical trials for patients with AML and Ewing sarcoma have resulted from our research and a trial testing BET bromodomain inhibitors in patients with MYCN amplified neuroblastoma is in development.