Dr. Sefik is examining the connection between obesity, cancer and the microbiome. An estimated 600 million people worldwide suffer from obesity, with 15-20% of deaths from cancer in the US alone linked to obesity. Recent studies in mice highlight the importance of intestinal bacteria and immune cells in obesity and colorectal cancer; however, these roles are not yet well characterized in humans. She will   analyze how high fat diet and obesity-associated intestinal bacteria change intestinal immunity in mice that harbor the human immune system and the human microbiota. This will help resolve some of the existing discrepancies and discover new players that are relevant to obesity and cancer in humans and help engineer better-targeted, combined therapies to colorectal cancer, especially in cases where existing immunotherapy fails.

Dr. Sheltzer studies how aneuploidy, or having too many or too few chromosomes in the cell, affects cancer development and treatment. Approximately 55% of breast cancers have an extra copy of one part (called the “q arm”) of chromosome 1. His lab is developing cutting-edge chromosome engineering technology to eliminate the extra copies of 1q from breast cancer cell lines and determine whether this prevents the cells from forming tumors. Additionally, they will test whether aneuploidy causes ovarian cancer cells to be sensitive to any chemotherapies, with the goal of identifying a drug that specifically kills cells with extra copies of chromosome 1q without affecting normal cells. These experiments could lead to highly effective “chromosome-specific” therapies based on aneuploidy.

Cancers involving the lower esophagus (esophageal adenocarcinomas) have dramatically increased in number over the last several decades. The reason for rise in this cancer is not completely understood. However, long before these esophageal cancers arise the normal esophageal multilayered squamous lining (or epithelium) is replaced by a single layered columnar epithelium which has features similar to the lining of the intestine and is known as Barrett’s esophagus. Dr. Singh proposes to investigate the origins and factors governing the genesis of Barrett's esophagus and understand its specific vulnerability to progress to cancer. This work will yield insights into disease mechanisms and reveal novel preventive strategies for esophageal adenocarcinomas.

[Nadia’s Gift Foundation Innovator]

Variations in drug efficacy and toxicity between patients are a major limitation to the long-term treatment of cancer. Even if the initial treatment is successful, cancers can return due to the emergence of cancer drug resistance. Dr. Turnbaugh seeks to determine how the gut microbiome (bacteria residing in the human body) contributes to drug efficacy and resistance. He will combine microbiology and pharmacology approaches to identify new microbiome-based biomarkers for monitoring and predicting acquired drug resistance. The findings will also have broad implications for development of more effective treatment regimens for patients with colorectal as well as other cancers. 

Dr. Wang is applying a chemical biology approach to identify kinases and small molecule inhibitors that enhance the immune system’s tumor surveillance capabilities. Therapies that enhance the anti-tumor activity of the immune system have shown tremendous promise in patients; however, only a subset of patients and tumors respond well to such treatments, so identifying complementary strategies to increase the effectiveness of existing immunotherapies is increasingly important. His goal is to obtain mechanistic insight into the anti-tumor immune response and to identify small molecule drugs that may improve the efficacy of immunotherapies in patients.

The cost of gastrointestinal cancer care in older adults is high, and hospital readmission after major GI cancer surgery can be particularly costly. The Center for Medicare Services (CMS) estimates that around 75% of these readmissions are preventable. For these patients, early warning signs for dehydration, infection, or other complications, if noted earlier, would allow physicians to intervene and prevent readmission. Dr. Yeo, a surgeon, has worked with programmers from Cornell Tech Campus to develop a Mobile Application (iPhone or Android compatible) for patients undergoing abdominal cancer surgery. The app tracks patients’ mobility and prompts patients to input quantitative and qualitative data regarding pain, fluid status and dietary factors in order to allow physicians to intervene earlier as needed. She is currently piloting the app for feasibility and usability, and improving the user interface so that physicians can use the app to monitor and improve patient care. The next step is a prospective randomized study to evaluate the utility of this mobile app in the prevention of readmission, thus enhancing physician-patient interactions, decreasing costs and, most importantly, improving patient care.