Research Abstract
My lab studies the link between cancer dependencies identified through functional genomic and other approaches to the development of new therapeutics for cancer. My experience in overseeing work directed at understanding the genetic basis of cancer (e.g. co-discovery of EGFR mutations in lung cancer), understanding the molecular function of oncogenic and tumor suppressor pathways (e.g. PTEN and RB), and in leading drug discovery efforts at Novartis provides me with a unique background for overseeing projects in this arena. Most recently, I conceptualized and led the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia collaborative project between Novartis and the Broad Institute and as part of this oversaw Project DRIVE – a comprehensive assessment of gene dependency in 392 cancer cell lines. From this work, my group was among the first to discover the role of PRMT5 as a synthetic lethal interaction with the co-deletion of MTAP. Our new lab situated at the Broad Institute is currently focused on understanding the role of PRMT5 in cancer, deploying second-generation CRISPR approaches to identify new cancer dependencies and studying the role of propeller domain proteins in human cancer. At the Broad we are immersed in a highly collaborative environment replete with expert platforms that enable experimentation in these areas across a breadth of technologies.